Childhood allergies to milk and eggs appear to be harder to outgrow than in the past. Milk allergy is the most common childhood allergy, affecting 2-3 percent of young children. Egg allergy is the second most common, affecting 1-2 per cent of young children, BBC radio reported.
Researchers at Maryland examined medical records of more than 800 children with milk allergies and nearly 900 with egg allergies over a 13-year period.
Among children in the study with milk allergies, they found that by the age of four years, less than 20 percent of them had become able to tolerate milk, and by the age of eight years, only 42 per cent had outgrown the allergy. That compared with prior studies, which suggested 75 percent children would overcome their milk allergies by the age of three years.
A similar trend was found with egg allergies. Just four percent outgrew this allergy by the age of four years, and just 37 per cent outgrew it by the age of 10 years.