WebMD: Food Allergy in Kids Up 18% http://www.webmd.com/allergies/news/20081022/food-allergy-in-kids-up-18-percent Food Allergy Among U.S. Children: Trends in Prevalence and Hospitalizations [pdf] http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db10.pdf Kids With Food Allergies [pdf] http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/ The Food Allergy Research and Resource Program [pdf] http://www.farrp.org/ The Food Allergy & Anaphlyaxis Network [pdf] http://www.foodallergy.org/ If you have a young child, you may be aware of the rising concerns about food allergies. This public health concern was well documented this week by the release of a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics, which look at a wide range of recent studies, including the National Hospital Discharge Survey and the National Health Interview Study. Overall, the researchers found that the number of children with food allergies has increased approximately 18% in the last ten years. Among those foods causing allergies, milk eggs, peanuts, walnuts, fish, and shellfish were some of the items that can bring on reactions such as a rash, wheezing, or vomiting. Researchers are quick to point out that they aren't entirely certain as to why American children seem to have higher incidences of allergies. Dr. Hugh Sampson, director of the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital, commented, "This seems to be primarily a phenomenon of Westernized countries, among people who have our kind of lifestyle and our kind of diet. You don't see similar things in countries in Asia or in Africa." The first link will whisk users away to a news article from this Wednesday's USA Today about these recent findings. The second link leads to a like-minded piece from Daniel J. DeNoon, reporting for WebMD Health News. Moving on, the third link leads to the full text of the data brief from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) on the rise in documented food allergies in American children. The fourth link will take visitors to a site designed for parents of children with allergies. Here, visitors will find high-quality fact sheets, support forums, and allergy alerts. The fifth link leads to the homepage of the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program (FARRP), which is based at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This site is another fine resource for people with questions about food allergies, and it features include an allergen database and a selection of informative videos. The last link will take users to the homepage of The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network, which contains information for those newly diagnosed with food allergies and information about their advocacy work.