Prevention of food allergies: to eat or to hydrate?

Abstract

In Western countries, food allergy (FA) is one of the most common chronic diseases in childhood with an increasing prevalence of food-related anaphylactic reactions. Food allergy is associated with a significant health and socioeconomic burden. It is important not only to consider the different impacts of food allergies, but also to try to mitigate this growing epidemic through primary prevention.  After focusing on the epidemiology and the multifactorial etiology, this review will give an overview of the current prevention strategies, consisting of dietary recommendations during pregnancy, breastfeeding and infancy, as well as prevention by epicutaneous sensitization.