There are many reasons why knowing your family health history is important to taking care of your own health and the health of your children. Understanding certain health risks comes from knowing your family’s health history going back a generation or two. For food allergies, however, it is only important to know what you and your baby’s other parent are allergic to. Children with a parent who is allergic to a food are twice as likely to develop an allergy to that food than children without an allergic parent. If both parents are allergic to a food, than the baby has a seventy five percent chance of having an allergy to that same food.
If you are expecting a baby or have recently had a baby and you or the baby’s other parent is allergic to one or more foods, be sure to tell your baby’s doctor about your family food allergy history. In the past, doctors have recommended waiting quite a long time before introducing a child to any food that a parent is allergic to. The recommendation recently changed, though, because of research that has shown that delaying the introduction of allergenic foods may actually increase the risk of developing a severe allergy.
Whether or not you have a family history of food allergies, your pediatrician is likely to recommend waiting until your baby is six months old to begin introducing solid foods. For the first six months, if you have a family history of food allergies the pediatrician is likely to suggest exclusively breastfeeding your baby or feeding them hypoallergenic formula instead of milk or soy based formula, which could trigger an allergic reaction. Once you begin introducing solid foods, it is suggested that you introduce them one at a time so that you can immediately pinpoint the cause of an allergic reaction if one does occur. In some cases, a pediatrician may even suggest that you should introduce one new food every three days so that you can accurately detect the cause of a delayed allergic reaction to a new food.
Food allergies are just one of a diverse assortment of health conditions that have been shown to run in families. Knowing your family health history can help you, your doctor, and your children’s pediatrician keep your family as healthy as possible. Keep a copy of it handy, and do not forget to update it when a relative is diagnosed with a disease or passes away as a result of an illness.
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