The prevalence of allergic diseases in children is markedly increasing to epidemic proportions.

The goal of a new study published in The European Journal of Pediatrics was to describe the presence and examine associated parental and child characteristics of allergic sensitization and physician-diagnosed allergy in children at 10 years of age.

In this population-based prospective cohort study, 5471 Dutch children were assessed since their fetal life. Here, allergic sensitization was measured by skin prick tests; physician-diagnosed allergy and parental and child characteristics were collected via questionnaires.

The results revealed that in children aged 10 years, inhalant and food allergic sensitization were present in 32.2% and 7.1%, respectively, while physician-diagnosed inhalant and food allergy existed in 12.4% and 2.3%, respectively. Maternal and paternal history of allergy, eczema or asthma was associated with increased risks of physician-diagnosed inhalant allergy, but not with food allergy. Additionally, histories of asthma and eczema at age-10 were associated with increased risks of physician-diagnosed inhalant allergy. Furthermore, eczema ever at age 10 years was associated with an increased risk of physician-diagnosed food allergy, with the highest risk of cashew and peanut food allergies.

The findings indicated strong effects of parental history of allergy, eczema or asthma on physician-diagnosed inhalant allergy in children at age 10 years. Meanwhile, prior history of childhood eczema was found to be a strong risk factor for physician-diagnosed inhalant and food allergy.