Argumentative Essay On Food Allergies

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Children today are being raised by overprotective parents who want the best for their children, but that protection includes an overly-sanitized environment that may be doing more harm. Children are heavily vaccinated during the first few years of life, and if they get sick, they are typically given antibiotics. While this may provide protection against life-threatening diseases, it could leave them open to developing life-threatening food allergies instead. With allergies on the rise, many people are wondering if it is because our world is too clean, or is it because we do not expose our children to enough germs? Research shows that feeding allergenic type foods when a baby starts eating solid foods, and exposure to germs in early childhood is extremely important in helping to develop the immune system. …show more content…

during the past 50 years. Children have more food allergies than adults. “About 90 percent of these allergies are reactions to just eight foods” (Rupp, 2016). Some are lucky enough to outgrow these allergies. The rest tend to be stuck with them for life. “Severe or fatal reactions can happen at any age, but teenagers and young adults with food allergies are at the highest risk of fatal food-induced anaphylaxis” (FARE 101). Some of these fatal reactions happen away from home. This is alarming because the person may not even know that they are allergic to that specific food. Some researchers argue that we’re “weakening children’s immune systems by delaying foods linked to allergies when babies start eating” (Fernstrom, 2014). While there is no scientifically proven reason as to why more people are developing allergies, many researchers believe in the theory of the “Hygiene

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