In a recent, anonymous exploratory survey conducted for randomized students of Madison High School, I hoped to find that many students had food allergies. Hearing many adults talk about the vast difference between allergies when they were young and allergies in Gen Z, I could not help but have an interest in the subject. Adults commonly claim that “there were never any peanut allergies when I was going to school.” I desired to create a survey that would offer an idea of how common allergies are in the Madison High School community, which inspired my research on the increase in allergies.
I provided a question, asking if anyone had allergies or intolerances to the following allergies: peanuts, lactose, fructose, gluten, eggs, shellfish, and then a section for other allergies that were not listed. Two people reported that they had allergies to peanuts, ten to lactose, none for fructose and shellfish, one for gluten, and two for eggs. Sixteen students reported that they had other allergies, however upon reflection, I realized that my question was unclear, and many selected ‘other’ if they had allergies to things such as medicine or seasonal allergies. Overall, approximately fifteen total students chose to report that they had allergies to foods.
This inspired further research on the increase in food allergies and intolerances. The doctor, Ruchi Gupta, has devoted much of her time to researching this subject and has lots of current information. Also, a report published in 2015 contains statistics that proves the increase in self-reported allergies. In the older study, the self-reported allergies increased significantly, to 13% in 2010 and 14.9% in 2006 compared with 9.1% in 2001. The study by Gupta shows that it is continuing to increase: self-reported allergies at nearly one-fifth of the U.S. population (20%) as of 2019. So a change from 9.1% in 2001 to 20% in 2019 definitely demonstrates an increase in allergies in the U.S.
At Madison High School, we can also recognize a relatively high percentage of students with food allergies. Assuming it was only seniors who had the opportunity to respond to the survey, 15 of 87, or 17.2% of the senior class had food allergies.
Sources:
jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2720064
www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/research/podcast/food-allergies-on-the-rise.html