Early signs of allergy

Children who react to both pollen and fruit during their first two years of life are at serious risk of developing allergies. This has been demonstrated in studies carried out by Xiao-Mei Mai of SINTEF Health Research and scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Of the 3619 one- to two-year-olds that they studied, 228 (6.3%) displayed a reaction to pollen while 215 (5.9%) produced reaction symptoms to fruit, including nuts.

Fifty of the children (1.4%) had a reaction to both ingredients. This little group was at considerably greater risk of developing a number of allergic diseases such as asthma and eczema when they were studied again as four-year-olds. The children who had only displayed reactions to either pollen or fruit, on the other hand, were at no greater risk than other children.