Are too many Aussie babies drinking dairy-free formula?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-07-07 17:01

Australia; International; NSW

Photo by Lucy Wolski on Unsplash

The rate of Australian babies prescribed specialised milk formulas for bubs with cow's milk allergies remains higher than it possibly should be, according to Australian and international researchers. The team analysed prescriptions for specialised formula across Australia, the UK and Norway and compared it to the current expected rate of milk allergies in the population, which is about 1%. All three countries had higher than expected formula prescription rates. Even though Australians can buy some dairy-free products without a prescription, the researchers say the prescription rate was 3.3 to 4.5-fold higher than the expected rate of allergy. The researcher say this could mean milk allergies are being overdiagnosed, meaning some babies are unnecessarily on a diet that often contains more sugar than regular formula.

Media release

From: Wiley

Embargoed until 03.01 hrs ET July 7, 2022
Are too many young children drinking specialized formula?

New research published in Clinical and Experimental Allergy reveals that prescriptions of specialized infant formula have increased in recent years in England, Norway, and Australia, with rates over 10-fold what would be expected for the number of children with milk allergies.

Prescribed amounts of specialized formula for infants rose 2.8-fold in England from 2007–2018, with similar trends in other regions of the United Kingdom. Amounts rose 2.2-fold in Norway from 2009–2020 and 3.2-fold in Australia from 2001–2012.

The findings are concerning because specialized formula contains higher levels of sugar, which may promote tooth decay and obesity in young children

“These data suggest high levels of milk allergy over-diagnosis and mark an important shift in early child nutrition,” the authors wrote.

Attachments

Note: Not all attachments are visible to the general public. Research URLs will go live after the embargo ends.

Research Wiley, Web page The URL will go live after the embargo ends

Journal/
conference: Clinical & Experimental Allergy

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: The University of Sydney, Imperial College London, UK

Funder: DEC declares grant funding unrelated to this work from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, part-time employment at DBV technologies who develop food allergy treatments, and advisory board payments from Allergenis and Westmead Fertility Centre. RJB declares consultancy payment from Cochrane, John Wiley and sons and the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology for editorial work, and payment for expert witness work in cases involving food anaphylaxis and a disputed infant formula health claim. All other authors declare they have no competing interests.

Media Contact/s

Contact details are only visible to registered journalists.