While all babies have sensitive skin, an alarming rise in childhood skin allergies is taking place across the US.
According to an article from CNN, using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), both food and skin allergies among children have been steadily increasing for more than a decade.
According to the article:
“Food allergy prevalence increased from 3.4% to 5.1% between 1997 and 2011, while skin allergy prevalence more than doubled in the same time period. That means 1 in every 20 children will develop a food allergy and 1 in every 8 children will have a skin allergy. According to the CDC, respiratory allergies are still the most common for children younger than 18.
The new report, which looked at data from the National Health Interview Survey, found that skin allergies decreased with age, while respiratory allergies increased as children got older.” (Emphasis added)
According to the CDC, younger children are more likely to suffer from skin allergies, which tend to decrease as they grow older. However, the data are still somewhat stunning, with 14.2% among 0–4 year olds, 13.1% among 5–9 year olds, and 10.9% among 10–17 year olds, showing allergic conditions to their skin.
Organic Clothing for Skin-Sensitivity
In a related article at WebMD, there is speculation from a variety of experts as to why childhood skin allergies are increasing:
"We do not know why there has been an increase, but the theories include the 'hygiene hypothesis'; that reduced infection and reduced exposure to germs has left our immune systems 'looking for a fight' and attacking innocent proteins," explained Dr. Scott Sicherer, chief of the division of pediatric allergy and immunology at the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.
In addition, there are theories about insufficient vitamin D, unhealthy fats in the diet, the obesity epidemic and processed food, none of which have been confirmed with hard science, he noted.”
As with so many health related issues, the most effective method for coping with skin allergies among children is prevention. At Simply Chickie, we believe organic clothing, which is produced without the harmful chemicals that are problematic for many skin-sensitive individuals, to be one of the best methods for preventing skin allergies in babies and toddlers.
Simply Chickie is a 100% organic clothing line, made is the USA, offering fun, cute, soft organic cotton clothing for babies and toddlers, as well as organic bamboo clothing for women.
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