Student research
by
Katinka Vanderlely
Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics,
University of Wollongong
Supervisors: Velencia Soutter, Robert Loblay, Anne Swain
October 2005
Full Text - PDF (243 KB)
Food has a role in a number of adverse reactions.
Food allergy is an abnormal immunological reaction to food
whereas the term food intolerance encompasses all non-allergic
adverse responses to foods. There has been a dramatic
increase in symptoms associated with allergy in the community
and to avoid development, sensitisation must be prevented.
Studies suggest exposure to dietary antigens occurs transplacentally
during late stage of pregnancy as well as through breast
milk which can elicit reactions in infants. It has
been shown that infants from mothers who avoid specific
food allergens during pregnancy and lactation combined with
the avoidance of high allergenic foods in the first years
of life experience a significant reduction in allergy and
sensitisation, however these results are inconsistent.
Dietary behaviour is shown to influence prevalence rates
of allergy and this project observed trends in the diets
of adult women, particularly those pregnant and/ or lactating,
to identify factors contributing to this increased prevalence.
A total of 200 women participated by completing a detailed
Food Frequency Questionnaire. Significant differences
between subgroups of women were determined usingANOVA and t-tests. Results showed significant differences between
the intakes of nuts between women aged 50-65 and pregnant
women (p=<0.05), and the intakes of protein containing foods
were higher than recommendations set in the Dietary
Guidelines for Australian Adults for most subgroups
of women (p<0.05). The real value of these results
is that they demonstrate trends which can be followed in
the future once more subjects have been recruited.