VIDEO: Food allergies, planetary health ‘inextricably linked’

Key takeaways:

• Planetary health and individual health are connected.
• Lifetime environmental exposures have positive and negative effects.
• Addressing these effects can reduce and prevent food allergy.

CHICAGO — Environmental exposures such as drought and wildfire smoke may induce food allergy, but awareness of these interactions may help us mitigate these impacts, according to a presentation at the Global Food Allergy Prevention Summit.

“We are inextricably linked to the health of our planet,” Kari C. Nadeau, MD, PhD, John Rock Professor of Climate and Population Studies and chair of the department of environmental health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told Healio.

During her discussion, Nadeau described how research into these connections can be used to prevent food allergy and develop new therapies.

“When we think about a whole person, we’re exposed throughout our whole lifetime to good and bad environmental exposures,” Nadeau said. “We can now be that change to help reduce food allergy and help reduce the impact of food allergy and to improve quality of life.”

Reference:

• Nadeau K. Planetary health. Presented at: Global Food Allergy Prevention Summit; July 6-9, 2023; Chicago.