While researching vaccines before vaccinating my child with multiple food allergies, I came across a website that firmly states vaccinations are the main cause of food allergies.
The theory behind this belief, is that by giving vaccines that contain food products used to stabilize and/or preserve the vaccines, especially to children under one year of age, we as parents, caregivers, and doctors are subjecting children to ingredients that cause the body to create antibodies against allergens.
The allergy antibody (IgE) made by our immune system is produced in response to our exposure to substances like pollen proteins that may induce unfortunate allergy immune reactions in predisposed individuals.
Since our youngest son’s food allergies started shortly after his first set of vaccinations, this made me question if vaccinations really could be the cause of the recent rise in food allergies among young children?
Vaccinated Children and Food Allergies Statistics
According to the 2010 National Immunization Survey, released by the CDC in September 2011, 90% of children were vaccinated in 2010. The Food and Allergy Anaphylaxis Networks reports that approximately 6 million children in the U.S. have food allergies, that’s as many as 1 in 13 (7.7%).
Base on those statistics, if 90% of children were vaccinated in the United States, and 7.7% of children in the United States have food allergies, than approximately 6.93% of children vaccinated have food allergies. If vaccinations are the main cause of food allergies, then why haven’t the other 83.07% of vaccinated children develop food allergies as well?
These statistics got me thinking.
Additional Early Exposure to Food Allergens.
If subjecting young children to ingredients that cause the body to create antibodies against allergens causes food allergies, then why don’t breastfed babies have a higher rate of food allergies?
Breastfeeding mothers are educated to eat a well-balanced diet while breastfeeding; including meals that contain wheat, dairy, soy, peanut and other allergen ingredients. These ingredients are passed along to the baby through breast milk with each feeding, but not all breastfed babies develop food allergies.
Just a few years ago, food allergies were on the rise even though vaccinations were on the decline, because of the belief that vaccinations caused Autism. If vaccinations cause food allergies, why didn’t we see a decrease in new food allergy cases during those years?
There are still so many unanswered questions about the connection between food allergies and vaccinations. The one thing I believe we all can agree on, is that further research will need to be done on this topic before anyone can conclude that vaccinations are the main cause food allergies.
Do you believe the theory that vaccinations are the main cause of food allergies? Will you continue to vaccinate your children?
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About Stacy Molter
I have two boys. Both were vaccinated. One has no food allergies. The other only has a handful of foods that he CAN eat safely because he has so many food allergies. Clearly, even if vaccines play a role, there must be other factors involved (such as immune system response) in causing one child to be severely allergic while the other can eat anything. I do hope that scientists figure it out so that children in the future don’t have to deal with food allergies!
I agree there must be other factors involved, and I too wish I knew that they were. Hopefully, scientists will figure this out soon, because no one should have to live with food allergies.
Have you read Robyn O’Brien’s book, The Unhealthy Truth? She also has a website called http://www.allergykids.com. You might find it interesting as it talks about her experience researching the rise in food allergies (as a mom with an allergic child) and the link to GMOs in our food supply among other things.
Thank you for mentioning that book, I have not read that book yet.
I do believe GMO’s are a big part of the rise in food allergies. All these additives now are not healthy and I wish life would go back to the way it was years ago, where we as individuals live of the land. I believe everyone was much healthier then.
I’ll check our her website too.
Thank you again!