Food allergy, dermatologic diseases, and anaphylaxisSerum nutrient markers and skin prick testing using data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
Section snippets
Methods
NHANES III is a survey designed to examine the health and nutrition of the noninstitutionalized US population and includes data for more than 30,000 participants. The cross-sectional survey was conducted between 1988 and 1994, and full details of the design and examination procedure have been published by the National Center for Health Statistics.12 All participants between the ages of 6 and 16 years and a randomly selected sample of 50% of the adults between 17 and 59 years old underwent
Results
Demographic details for eligible adults and children with serum nutrient data are presented in Table I. There were slightly more female subjects than male subjects in both groups, and the distribution of individuals by race and ethnicity was similar. Participants undergoing allergic sensitization testing were all youth and a randomly selected 50% sample of adults; thus, no selection bias is likely. Indeed, there were no notable differences between adults with and without allergic sensitization
Discussion
This study used an existing major data set to determine whether the risk of allergic skin sensitization was associated with blood levels of a range of nutrients. In addition to studying several vitamins and other antioxidants, lipids, and minerals that in previous studies have been directly linked with the expression of allergic skin sensitization, or indirectly linked through effects on asthma or other allergic disease, we also examined other serum nutrient data available in NHANES III. The
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Supported by the Wellcome Trust and National Institutes of Health grant R03HL6659 (Dr Cassano).