HealthNuts

Project status: Complete

Research area: Population Health > Population Allergy

The HealthNuts study is changing the way we understand food allergy

This study is a world-first, longitudinal, population-based study of food allergy, which will help us to better understand risk factors for and the natural history of food allergies in childhood.

Food allergy is a significant public health burden affecting 10 per cent of one-year-old infants in Melbourne, Australia, the highest reported prevalence internationally.

Other allergic diseases, including eczema, asthma, and hay fever, are also major public health problems.

This study is a world-first, longitudinal, population-based study of food allergy, which will help us to better understand risk factors for and the natural history of food allergies in childhood.

Food allergy is a significant public health burden...

This study is a world-first, longitudinal, population-based study of food allergy, which will help us to better understand risk factors for and the natural history of food allergies in childhood.

Food allergy is a significant public health burden affecting 10 per cent of one-year-old infants in Melbourne, Australia, the highest reported prevalence internationally.

Other allergic diseases, including eczema, asthma, and hay fever, are also major public health problems.

A world-first study

We will be the world’s first study to accurately describe the natural history of food allergy and other allergic diseases from childhood to adolescence. This will help us find risk factors for food allergy that will inform preventative strategies, and understand why some children with food allergy will outgrow the condition while others have lifelong disease.

We want to understand the impact of early life allergies on children’s health and wellbeing as they move into the adolescent years, to understand the long-term health impacts of this common childhood condition.

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Study details

Recruitment and baseline assessment (12 months)

Beginning in 2007, HealthNuts recruited 5,300 children at 12 months of age, where they were tested for possible food allergy at local immunisation centres. Around 1,000 came to the HealthNuts clinic at the Royal Children's Hospital for further testing to confirm a food allergy diagnosis.

Follow‑up at age 4

The HealthNuts children were followed-up at age four (4) years and children with a previous food allergy, or those reporting new symptoms of a food allergy, were invited to the Royal Children's Hospital for further allergy testing.

Follow‑up at ages 6 and 10

At ages 6 and 10 years, we invited the HealthNuts children to take part in an allergy and health assessment, which included food allergy testing, eczema examination, lung function testing, growth measurements and retinal imagery.

Follow‑up at age 15

The 15-year-old follow-up begun in 2022, and teenagers were asked to complete an allergy and health assessment, as well as complete questionnaires to understand the impact that food allergy and other allergic conditions have on their, and their peers, lives.

We have now finished collecting data for our 15 year old follow-up.