Increased prevalence of eating disorders as a biopsychosocial implication of food allergy

Abstract

IntroductionThe study evaluates the impact of biopsychosocial factors involved in food allergy (FA) on the prevalence of eating disorders (ED). For the 5-year follow-up studies, 75 participants (aged 1–14 years) with early-onset FA and 81 healthy peers were included.MethodParticipants were diagnosed with FA using antibody/cytokine content immunoassay tests. Medical history, including BMI z-scores, was completed using data obtained in response to a validated allergic questionnaire that incorporated the SCOFF and EAT-8 screening questionnaires for ED. FA was confirmed if total IgE was elevated, specific sIgE to food allergens exceeded 0.7 kUA/L and if manifestations were observed. Screening for ED was considered positive if two or more SCOFF and EAT-8 items were confirmed.ResultsIn the FA+ group, 50% of female participants and 6.7% of their healthy female peers reported ED. An ED+ result was more frequent in FA+ individuals than in their healthy peers (p = 0.046) although the association is weak. In the FA+/ED+ group, 25.3% of the participants were underweight, and 14.7% were overweight compared to their peers where this reached respectively 4.2% and 2.8% (p<0.005). 74% of the FA+/ED+ individuals reported elimination diet implementation and only 15% declared it was medically consulted. The prevalence of ED in the FA+ male group was consistently correlated with lack of confidence in FA issues (r = 0.5424) and in the FA+ female group with applied medical procedures (r = 0.7069; p<0.005).ConclusionThese findings suggest that participants with FA especially struggling with lack of confidence in FA issues and those following an uncontrolled, restrictive elimination diet are more prone to food aversion and ED than their healthy peers. Applied procedures are necessary, and their neglect is associated with FA deterioration; however, the possibility of ED and biopsychosocial implications development should not be underestimated.

Gestational Dysfunction-Driven Diets and Probiotic Supplementation Correlate with the Profile of Allergen-Specific Antibodies in the Serum of Allergy Sufferers

“…One of the variables that strengthened the association was BMI status. The observed disorders (obesity and underweight) were previously reported in the group of these subjects and were partly related to co-existing eating disorders because of allergy therapies and following different types of diet [ 8 ].…”

“…Immunological analyses and assessments were performed according ESPGHAN 2015 norms, providing the gold standard in the diagnosis of allergies. All protocols have already been described in the authors’ publications [ 8 ]. Briefly: blood and serum samples were collected twice during the project period.…”

“…The consequence of the progression of allergic diseases including food allergy is a number of possible health complications and the well characterised allergic march as a consequence of skin and epithelial barrier dysfunction [ 6 , 7 ]. However, the latest research mainly focuses on demonstrating possible links between allergic diseases and the development of subsequent eating disorders, psychosocial drawback [ 8 ], and inflammatory autoimmune diseases with humoral regulation [ 9 ]. Some of those diseases, because of commonalities in terms of susceptibility loci, genetic pathways, and genomic regulatory sites, may also explain the dramatic increase in the coincidence of mentioned disorders that are highly heritable.…”

Two Faces of Milk Proteins Peptides with Both Allergenic and Multidimensional Health Beneficial Impact—Integrated In Vitro/In Silico Approach

“…The consequence of the progression of allergic diseases is a number of possible complications and the well characterized allergic march. However, the latest research mainly focuses on demonstrating possible links between allergic diseases and the development of subsequent eating disorders, psychosocial drawbacks [ 39 ] and inflammatory autoimmune diseases [ 40 ]. Substantial commonalities between allergy and autoimmune inflammatory diseases in terms of susceptibility loci, genetic pathways, and genomic regulatory sites may also explain the dramatic increase in the incidence of both disorders that are highly heritable.…”

“…Substantial commonalities between allergy and autoimmune inflammatory diseases in terms of susceptibility loci, genetic pathways, and genomic regulatory sites may also explain the dramatic increase in the incidence of both disorders that are highly heritable. Some commonalities in the genetic architecture of transcriptional cofactors, cell-cycle regulators, regulatory T and helper Th17 cells differentiation factors explain a relationship between these diseases by pinpointing common disease mechanisms that are very complex in both types of diseases [ 7 , 39 ]. Notwithstanding, the only effective way to improve the condition of a patient with a detrimental reaction to food is to eliminate the source of antigen from the diet so far.…”