Peanut Allergies on the Rise

Point.

The prevalence of peanut allergy among children tripled between 1997 and 2008, researchers found.

Respondents to a telephone survey reported that 1.4% of children had peanut allergies, up from just 0.4% a decade earlier, Scott Sicherer, MD, of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, and colleagues reported in the May 12 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

"Although the total population prevalence of self-reported peanut and/or tree nut allergy did not increase among adults since 1997, there was a significant rise in self-reported allergies among children," the researchers wrote.

They conducted the phone survey in 2008 and compared those results with two prior surveys they had done -- one in 2002 and the other in 1997.

Peanut and tree nut allergies are the leading causes of fatal allergic reactions and are not typically outgrown, the researchers noted.

Counterpoint - see below.

Still think they have any idea what they are talking about?