A new study conducted by a team of Japanese researchers shows that first borns are more susceptible to allergies.
A team of pediatricians at the University from Kyoto, studied 13,000 children aged between 7 and 15 years to discover whether the order in which they were born gives a lower or higher risk of developing dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis, food allergies or asthma. The results show that the prevalence of asthma and dermatitis does not vary by birth order.
Instead, researchers have observed that the prevalence of rhinitis, conjunctivitis and allergies to food is lower to other children, compared with first borns.
First born are more susceptible to allergies
Moreover, as a child is born later reduced risk of developing allergies. Thus, 4% of first borns had food allergies, the percentage decreased to 3.5% in case of children with an older brother or sister. For those who have been the third child of the family, food allergies observed rate was only 2.6%.
The researchers said further studies are needed to elucidate what circumstances influences prenatal development of allergies in children.
