Dietary Counseling Benefits Children With Food Allergies

TOPLINE:

Dietary counseling significantly improved the nutritional status of pediatric patients with non–immunoglobulin E (IgE)–mediated gastrointestinal food allergies (non–IgE-GIFAs), regardless of polysensitization, without any negative effect on nutritional status.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers analyzed 100 pediatric patients (mean age at diagnosis, 8.5 years; 58% boys) newly diagnosed with non–IgE-GIFAs in a prospective intervention study conducted in Naples, Italy, from January 2017 to January 2020.
• Non–IgE-GIFA manifestations in the study population were food protein–induced enteropathy (44%), food protein–induced enterocolitis syndrome (11%), food protein–induced allergic proctocolitis (17%), and food protein–induced motility disorders (28%).
• The primary outcome was the effect of dietary counseling on the nutritional status of the patients after 12 months of intervention.
• Dietary counseling focused on implementing a diet that was tailored to eliminate the allergen(s) responsible for non–IgE-GIFAs while preventing nutritional deficiencies.

TAKEAWAY:

• At 12 months postintervention, the entire study population showed significant improvements in body weight, body length/height, body weight-for-age z-scores, and weight-to-length ratios or body mass index z-scores (P < .001).
• The prevalence of overnutrition was reduced from 6% at diagnosis to 2% after 12 months of intervention, whereas rates of undernutrition subtypes, including underweight, stunting, and wasting, significantly dropped from 26% to 3% over the same period (P < .001).
• The intervention resulted in a 90.3% final response rate, defined as the percentage of patients who showed the resolution of at least one nutritional status alteration after 12 months of intervention.

IN PRACTICE:

“The restrictive nature of the elimination diet typically used to manage the condition can limit food choices and result in insufficient intake of vital nutrients, especially if not properly monitored by specialists,” the authors of this study wrote.

SOURCE:

Roberto Berni Canani, MD, PhD, with the University of Naples Federico II in Naples, Italy, was the corresponding author of the study, which was published online on March 19 in Nutrients. 

LIMITATIONS:

The study lacked analyses of body composition, biochemical parameters of nutritional status, and dietary nutrient intake through food diaries. It did not explore underlying causes of nutritional status changes, like barrier permeability or inflammation. Additionally, the results could not be directly generalized to larger populations as this was a nonrandomized, single-center study with a small sample size.

DISCLOSURES:

The study was supported by the Department of Translational Medical Science of the University of Naples Federico II. The authors reported no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.