Food allergies are more common among kids living in cities than among children in less populated areas, a new study finds.
Researchers found that the share of children with any type of food allergy was 9.8 percent in cities, 7.2 percent in suburban areas, and 6.2 percent in rural areas.
Previous studies found that city dwellers have higher rates of other types of allergies, such as asthma, eczema and hay fever.
The new findings, based on a survey of parents, held even after the researchers accounted for factors associated with children’s likelihood of having a food allergy, including ethnicity, gender, age, household income and the latitude of where they live.
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