Food Intolerance in Children: How It Differs From Child Food Allergies

	What is food intolerance in children?
	How is it different than child food allergies?
	And does it really matter at all?

What Is Food Allergy In Children?

Food allergy and food intolerance are both a type of food sensitivity. When someone has a food allergy, their immune system reacts to a particular food as if it isn't safe. If someone has a severe food allergy, this can cause a life-threatening reaction. This means that people with food allergies need to be extremely careful what they eat. The narrow definition of food allergy adopted by medical professionals and allergists is that a true food allergy is one that causes a true allergic reaction; this reaction is caused by a build-up of excessive amounts of the immune system antibody immunoglobulin E, or IgE.  In most cases, the build-up of IgE comes after repeated exposure to an allergen. 

What Is Food Intolerance in Children?

Food intolerance or food sensitivity is a digestive system response rather than an immune system response and is neither related to the immune system or to food poisoning. It can be caused by the absence of specific chemicals or enzymes needed to digest a food substance, or to the body's responses to certain food constituents or chemicals either natural or artificial.

The food intolerance in children gives symptoms more or less similar to food allergy in children. These are:

	Nausea
	Stomach pain or stomach upset or constipation
	Gas, cramps or bloating in abdomen
	Vomiting
	Heartburn
	Diarrhea
	Head aches
	Common nasal allergy symptoms and/or congestion
	Hives, rash, skin reactions
	Eczema
	General malaise and fatigue

In the absence of immune antibodies the doctor will diagnose the child’s symptoms as food hypersensitivity or food intolerance in children; he does not diagnose this as child food allergy in children. In case the child is tested for allergy using RAST blood tests or scratch/skin tests, the result will show negative. However the allergy symptoms will persist.  In short both food allergy and food intolerance result in certain foods causing negative bodily reactions; however the condition is termed differently.

Food Allergy vs. Food Intolerance in Children—Does It Matter?

In some cases the diagnosis of food allergy in children may make a difference than a diagnosis of food intolerance in children.

 If the food allergies are severe they require urgent special medical attention and emergency procedures. For example allergic reaction such as anaphylaxis is severe and potentially life-threatening and requires urgent action. Similarly if the child has to be injected with epinephrine then also there will be a sense of urgency. Normally one can differentiate the food allergy from the diagnosis and this will be taken seriously by many people. The emergency medical personnel will also be prepared in such cases since the diagnosis indicates what to look for.

The diagnosis for food allergy is very important if desensitization via allergy shots/immunotherapy is considered as the right option. Introduction of right allergen extract to desensitize against immune antibodies is essential for effective immunotherapy or allergy shots. If the immune antibodies are not the cause for the symptoms allergy shots will not be effective.

The medications required for food allergy and food intolerance are not the same; this is because the formulation for allergy medications is such that it acts on different body structures and blood chemicals than that for food intolerance.  A decongestant may work effectively in both the cases whereas antihistamines may not prove effective for a child with food intolerance. This is because in food intolerance histamines are not present and hence there is no underlying antibody reaction.

In general, the diagnosis of food allergy in children as compared to food intolerance in children will not alter the final outcome in a big way.  This is due to the reason that the best way to manage food allergies and food intolerance in children is elimination and avoidance of allergens which are allergy producing substances.  Although it is essential to pinpoint the foods that cause a food allergy or food intolerance in children, the final objective remains the same i.e. to know the foods causing symptoms and eliminate them as far as possible.

The identification of triggers of food tolerance in children should be done with the affected child's doctor or allergist who will give necessary advice. The process of identification is by the process of elimination and it is a trial and error method. Since the process involves limiting foods to the child, the child might get into health problems. Further it is difficult to understand where to start in the whole process and hence it is advisable to perform this under guidance of a physician. The whole process is nothing but managing the child’s diet.