Iron Deficiency in Children With Cow's Milk Allergies: Are Restrictive Diets to Blame?
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Children with allergies to cow's milk and other foods may be at an increased risk for iron deficiency and anemia, suggesting that children with food allergies likely require increased nutritional counseling and monitoring to ensure that essential nutrient requirements are being met, according to a recent study in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. The study also found that the elimination of cow's milk from the diet of children with allergies does not seem to negatively affect vitamin D levels, a finding likely explained by the reliance on oral vitamin D supplements and widely available milk alternatives and foods fortified with vitamin D.
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@taniya In a retrospective study, researchers from the University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, New York, compared vitamin D levels and iron status of 77 children with cow's milk allergy with 70 children with other food allergies and 87 children with atopy without food allergy. Data on vitamin D and iron levels were obtained from chart review of the randomly selected children, all of whom presented to the University of Rochester Medical Center Pediatric Allergy/Immunology Clinic. The ages of the patients ranged from 0.5 years to 17 years. Children with cow's milk allergy in this study were younger than children who had no food allergy (P < .001), which the researchers said was expected, insofar as younger children are more likely to have an allergy to milk.