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Wheat Allergy Symptoms in Children and How to Recognize Them
By Alex Christie (BA Hons, LCHE, MARH, B.Inst.A.T.)
Wheat allergy symptoms in children can include wheezing and difficulty breathing, itchy skin rashes, including hives, vomiting, diarrhoea, nausea, abdominal pain and swelling around the mouth and in the throat. Wheat allergy symptoms in children usually develop fairly quickly, often within minutes to hours, after the child eats food to which s/he is allergic. Nasal symptoms by themselves, such as congestion or a runny nose, are usually not caused by food allergies.
Wheat allergy symptoms in children may be mild or very severe, depending on how much of the food your child ate and how allergic s/he is to the food. A severe reaction can include anaphylaxis, with difficulty breathing, swelling in the mouth and throat, decreased blood pressure, shock and even death.
Wheat allergy symptoms in children can develop in infants given a wheat cereal. I suggest you offer a rice or oat cereal first and delay giving wheat until after your child is 12 months old. Other foods that may cause problems in children allergic to wheat include breads and cereals (unless they are made from oats, rye, corn or rice) made with wheat flour or enriched flour. Also avoid foods with cornstarch, gluten, semolina, and white flour.
More common than wheat allergy symptoms in children are intolerances to certain foods, which can cause vomiting, diarrhoea, spitting up, and skin rashes. An example of such a reaction is found in children with lactose intolerance, which occurs because of a deficiency of the enzyme lactase, which normally breaks down the sugar lactose. Children lacking or deficient in this enzyme develop symptoms after drinking foods containing lactose, such as cow's milk. Because this reaction does not involve the immune system, it is not a real food allergy.
To prevent wheat allergy symptoms in children developing ensure that your child eats nutritious foods and limit highly refined and sugary foods. A child that is fed well will not develop a craving for sweets and sugary foods. Sugar is devoid of nutrients and depletes the body of nutrients to process it. Even small amounts of sugar weaken your immune system. One teaspoon depresses your immune system for about thirty minutes; a standard size chocolate bar can deplete it for twelve hours.
The immune system of a young child is developing very rapidly. It is likely that some food will cause a reaction, whether it is wheat allergy symptoms in children or other food symptoms. A small amount of detective work will usually identify the culprit. By avoiding this food for a while and reintroducing it later in very small quantities it is possible to allay further reactions to it.
If you wish to avoid wheat allergy symptoms in children and the possibility of your child developing any further allergies or intolerances, I suggest you breast feed your newborn for six months and avoid supplementing with infant formula or offering solids for the first six months. If you are not breastfeeding or need to supplement consider using a hypoallergenic infant formula (soya formulas and goat's milk may not be good alternatives, as many infants allergic to cow's milk may also be allergic to soya).
If you are breastfeeding avoid milk, eggs, fish, peanuts, and tree nuts in your own diet. When you start weaning continue to breast feed while foods are introduced. Do not feed wheat to your child for at least 12 months. Introduce the appropriate foods at the appropriate time. Make sure that your child gets a variety of healthy, nutritious foods. If an allergy develops remove the offending food from the diet and reintroduce a very small quantity at a later date. I do not advise any elimination diet as this may cause nutrient deficiencies. If you notice that your child develops symptoms after being exposed to certain foods, avoid those foods.
When trying to determine what your child is allergic to, and whether you are dealing with wheat allergy symptoms in children, do not assume that if your child has previously eaten a food without adverse reactions s/he is not allergic to that food. Do not also make the mistake of suspecting only new foods as being the cause of the food allergy. It takes time for the immune system to build up a reaction against something that the body is allergic to. It can take days, weeks, months or even years to build up enough of a response to cause noticeable symptoms. Your child may, therefore, be allergic to a food s/he has eaten many times before without problems.
With regard to wheat allergy symptoms in children, consider that children often outgrow their food allergies. If your child has a severe reaction to a food visit your allergy practitioner or kinesiologist for a diagnosis before reintroducing the food. You can desensitize your child to the offending food using homeopathic desensitizing remedies. Homeopathic desensitizing remedies are safe for all ages.
Apart from wheat allergy symptoms in children, the most common food allergies include: peanuts, tree nuts (walnuts, pecans, etc.), fish, shellfish, eggs (especially egg whites), milk, and soya. By keeping a diary and recording the foods your child eats, especially new foods, and when the symptoms develop, you will be able to determine what s/he is allergic to.
Once you determine what your child is allergic to, and whether it is wheat allergy symptoms in children you are dealing with, it is important to read food labels because the food to which your child is allergic may be an ingredient in other foods. You should also avoid eating foods that may have been prepared using equipment that was also used to prepare the foods to which that your child is allergic.
So as to avoid wheat allergy symptoms in children, talk with and educate other family members and carers about your child's food allergies. People do not understand how serious these can be, and may think it is all right to give small amounts of that food to your child.
Educate your child about her allergy, so that s/he can learn to avoid foods that s/he is allergic to. To avoid wheat allergy symptoms in children, take your child to a homeopathic allergy practitioner / kinesiologist so s/he can be desensitized to this food as soon as possible, thus avoiding the possibility of any anaphylactic reaction. In the meantime have your child wear a medical alert bracelet to notify others of his condition and have her carry an epinephrine pen to ensure rapid treatment during an allergic reaction.
In addition to all the above steps, when dealing with wheat allergy symptoms in children suffering severe reactions, take your child to be evaluated by a homeopathic allergy practitioner or kinesiologist. Kinesiology offers pain-free testing for all ages, and children usually enjoy the testing. Homeopathic desensitizing remedies can ensure your child is unlikely to ever suffer a severe reaction if s/he ever consumes the culprit food.
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