Parents warned over allergy tests bought online

PARENTS could be putting their children at risk by buying allergy tests online and on the high street, experts have warned.

Youngsters can end up malnourished if they are put on restrictive diets and there is no scientific basis for many of the tests, according to experts from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in Britain.

The watchdog is urging parents to avoid costly private or alternative testing and see their doctor for a referral to an allergy specialist if necessary.

It has issued new guidelines aimed at speeding up diagnosis of food allergies in children.

Dr Adam Fox, a consultant in paediatric allergy at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London, worked on the guideline.

He said experts did not know why the number of people diagnosed with allergies was rising.

In Britain, one in 20 children has a food allergy, with one in 50 allergic to nuts. Dr Fox said doctors frequently saw parents who had taken their children for private testing.

“The more slick the website, the more they are likely to believe it,” he said.

Dr Fox said the youngsters were often suffering from underlying allergies that did indeed require attention, but they had got “lost” in a long list of other things that had emerged from private testing.

High street and online tests were both “useless” and were “getting in the way” of clinicians finding out what was going on.

“You can’t diagnose a child without seeing them,” he said.

NICE made a specific warning over some allergy tests sold on the high street and over the internet, including the Vega test, kinesiology and hair analysis.

The tests cost about £60 (€70.69) online and significantly more on the high street.

Dr Fox added: “Many parents often turn to alternative methods to help diagnose their child, but there is little evidence base for these approaches, and parents often end up putting their children on very extensive restriction diets, which can leave them malnourished, as well as wasting time and money.”

Data suggests that up to 20% of children who are reported as having a food allergy do not have a confirmed diagnosis, despite frequently being on restricted diets.