It raises a few points:
1. Eggs are not dairy products. Just because the grocery store sells them near the milk does not mean they come from cows. Or mammals in general (yes, I know monotremes lay eggs, but they aren't generally eaten).
2. Pie graphs are supposed to add up to 100%. Not 71%. Even if you're just showing the top 3, you still should have a 29% slice marked "other."
3. Your graph is flawed. It left out broccoli and cauliflower, which have a near-100% allergy rate among children.
Thank you, Cat-Vi!
Actually, lactose intolerance and gluten intolerance not, in fact, allergies. Allergies are not the same as food intolerances - allergies involve the immune system. While an intolerance makes life uncomfortable, an allergy typically has a more immediate reaction as the immune system treats the food as an invader, producing an allergic reaction that can be life-threatening. The most common allergies in adults are fish, shellfish, and nuts, and children are also commonly allergic to eggs and milk.
ReplyDeleteOnly around 2% of adults and 8% of children have food allergies, as opposed to food intolerances and coeliac disease.
If this graph was part of a 6th grade science project, I'd give it an F.
My father's lactose 'intolerance' was so severe that he lost 60 lbs, was hospitalized multiple times, and he was tested for bowel cancer.
DeleteIntolerances can go well beyond making someone merely 'uncomfortable.'
Celiac disease is immune mediated and NOT an intolerance. A gluten 'intolerance' is different than celiac disease where the villi in the small intestine become inflamed, flattened, and stop absorbing nutrients properly because the immune system wrongly recognizes gluten as something to destroy.
DeleteSince 29% (number of families reporting food allergies) + 71% (wheat + shellfish + "dairy") adds up to 100%, maybe someone just got terribly confused.
ReplyDeleteMal - Lactose intolerance may not be considered a "true" allergy, but a dairy (casein) allergy usually IS. That is frequently an anaphylaxis risk (ask me about the kids across the street who carry epipens for casein and soy reactions).
ReplyDeleteMy wife has a dairy allergy (casein), and the occasional helpful wait-person has pointed out things with eggs and soy-milk as "dairy" for her...
ReplyDeleteI just want to point out that Canadians went metric about 30 years ago, and since then nothing has added up!!
ReplyDeleteAddendum to my metric comment: my daughter is a real celiac, not a trendy wheat avoider. She is asked all the time if she may have eggs or meat. I don't know, maybe it's because cows and chickens eat grain???
ReplyDeleteI don't even understand what the percentages are. Is it by household, by individual person, or by individual allergy? Households can have multiple people with allergies, and a person can have more than one food allergy, so all of those numbers could be different. They ought to specify percentage of *what*.
ReplyDeleteMethinks that most of the people who have a "gluten allergy" are full of it. Especially when they inform me that their dog shares their "allergy." Tell me you simply choose to avoid gluten and I maybe, just maybe, show you some respect.
ReplyDeleteThe whole thing with pets having "food allergies" or "gluten intolerance" has taken off like crazy in the past couple of years.
ReplyDeleteMy little sister runs a doggie day-care (which is surprisingly profitable, even in this economy), and just shakes her head over all of the "sensitive babies" she gets to care for. She even had to change the recipe of the home-made peanut butter and bacon dog treats she used to make, the ones the dogs all loved, because so many dog owners were convinced their dogs might be allergic to peanuts, and they wanted a "peanut-free premise" for their pooches! There are several vegetarian dogs as well, which is kind of sad. But at least that diet won't outright kill a dog the way it will a cat.
She humors them of course, because they're the ones with the money, but it really is quite silly. I imagine their kids have all sorts of "sensitivities" as well.
Hey, Some of these pet things could be real - my cat needs to be on a particular sort of cat food (though it is actual cat food) because other sorts upset her digestive system. Anything with fish in it makes her quite sick. An intollerance rather than an allergy, but still important for her health.
ReplyDeleteThe peanut butter thing could be relevant if someone at home is severly allergic. A dog that ate a peanut butter treat, and then licked a peanut allergy sufferer could trigger an allergy attack.