Awareness of youth about food allergy

Food allergy is not a disease, but an allergic reaction to food. But it is the trigger of many allergic diseases: atopic dermatitis, urticaria, Quincke’s edema, bronchial asthma, allergic rhinitis and others. Food allergy can be considered not only as the most important medical and social, but also a global problem of biological safety of the population. WHO considers nutrition a way to preserve human health and prevent various diseases? In this regard, the purpose of this research work of students was to: assess the level of awareness of young people about food allergies, study the composition of the products consumed, as well as the development and distribution of information leaflets on food allergies. A specially designed questionnaire consisted of 28 multiple choice questions. The representative sample of the survey included the responses of 228 respondents, whose average age was 21 years. Women showed more interest in the food allergy questionnaire (70.2%), men’s responses were 29.8%. The surveyed persons with secondary education (65.8%) prevailed, then with higher education (27.2%) and only 7% with primary education. Respondents subjectively self-rated their health as good (48.7%), then as satisfactory (31.1%), excellent (17.1%) and only 3.1% as bad. An allergic diagnosis was previously made by 40.0% of respondents, and most often they had food allergies (38.5%), allergic rhinitis (15.4%), pollinosis (14.3%), atopic dermatitis (13.2%), asthma (11%) and allergic conjunctivitis (7.7%). The majority of respondents answered that citrus fruits (28.9%) caused allergic reactions in them, followed by chocolate (17.1%), nuts (13.2%), milk (9.6%), tomatoes (5.3%) and fish (3.1%). The tendency to develop allergy symptoms is often observed in close relatives, therefore, a burdened hereditary history was more often observed through other relatives - 41.9%, mother - 21.2%, siblings - 19.0%, father - 17.9%. Other types of allergies more often prevailed in the surveyed persons (51.8%), and of these: allergy to medicines - 14.5%, household dust - 14%, insect bites - 8.9% of cases. Reading and understanding labels (usually small print) along with awareness of the risks of food allergies can be of paramount importance for its prevention. In this regard, we have studied the labels of 121 product names for the content of dyes, flavors and preservatives in them. It was found that 65.2% of them contained components that contribute to the occurrence of food allergies. So, respondents often underestimated information about food allergies. Unfortunately, many of them did not pay attention to the cross-reactivity between food and pollen allergies.