Physician practice in food allergy prevention in the Middle East and North Africa

BMC Pediatrics

Research Article

Bandar AlMutairi¹  Marzieh Tavakol²  Emad Abdulqader Koshak³  Gamal Samy⁴  Robin J. Green⁵  Andrea von Berg⁶  Mahmoud Salah Elhalik⁷  Abdulrahman Saleh AlFrayh⁸  Joseph Haddad⁹  Yvan Vandenplas^1,10  Nezha Mouane^1,11  Mohamed Salah^1,12  Mohamad Miqdady^1,13  Hania Szajewska^1,14 

[1] Bandar Medical Center, Jahra City, Kuwait;Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Shahid Bahonar Hospital, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran;Department of Internal Medicine, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;Department of Medical Childhood Studies, Institute of Postgraduate Childhood Studies, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt;Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa;Department of Paediatrics, Research Institute, Marien-Hospital-Wesel, Wesel, Germany;Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Latifa Hospital, Dubai Health Authority, Dubai, UAE;Department of Pediatrics, King Saud University College Of Medicine, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;Department of Pediatrics, Saint George University Hospital, Balamand University, Beirut, Lebanon;Department of Pediatrics, UZ Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium;Gastroenterology Nutrition Department, Children Hospital Ibn Sina, University Mohammed V Faculty of Medicine, Rabat, Morocco;Nestlé Nutrition, Dubai, United Arab Emirates;Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition Division, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates;The Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland;

关键词: Allergy;    atopy;    prevention;    breastfeeding;    hydrolysed formula;    complementary feeding;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12887-017-0871-3

 received in 2016-05-13, accepted in 2017-04-25,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundA number of scientific organisations have developed guidelines for the primary prevention of allergic disease through nutritional interventions. However, even if the best evidence-based guidelines are available, these guidelines do not necessarily lead to adherence and improved health outcomes.MethodTo determine how closely the practice of physicians in select Middle Eastern and North African countries compares with the current recommendations on the primary prevention of allergy a survey study was performed using a structured questionnaire and convenience sampling.ResultsA total of 1481 physicians responded, of which 66.1% were pediatricians. A total of 76.6% of responding physicians routinely identify infants who are at risk for developing allergy. In infants at risk for developing allergy, 89.1% recommend exclusive breastfeeding for at least 4 months. In contrast to current recommendations, 51.6% routinely recommend avoidance of any allergenic food in the lactating mother. In infants at risk of developing allergy who are completely formula fed, standard infant formula was recommended by 22.5% of responders. Of the responding physicians, 50.6% would recommend delaying the introduction of complementary food in infants at risk of allergy compared to those not at risk, whereas 62.5% would recommend postponing the introduction of potentially allergenic foods. Only 6.6% stated they follow all current recommendations on food allergy prevention.ConclusionThe results of this survey suggest that a substantial part of responding physicians from select Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries do not follow current recommendations on primary prevention of allergic disease through nutritional interventions.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017