Ep. 274: Specialized Nutrition for Pediatric Food Allergy Management

The dietary management of food allergies includes identifying the allergen that triggers a reaction and avoiding foods that contain that allergen. As a result, children with dietary restrictions due to food allergies may be at risk for inadequate nutritional intake. We sat down with Andie Lee Gonzalez, Senior Pediatric Medical Science Liaison with Abbott Nutrition Medical Affairs and Research, who describes the role of specialized nutrition support and why it’s important in the dietary management of food allergies.

Resources to keep you in the know:

• For educational resources and food allergy management tools, visit Abbott Nutrition Health Institute at anhi.org.
• Diagnosis and Appropriate Identification of Food Allergy 
• Does Your Child Have a Food Allergy?

You can find FAACT's Roundtable Podcast on Apple Podcast, Pandora, Spotify, Podbay, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, Threads, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, and YouTube.

Sponsored by: Abbott

Thanks for listening! FAACT invites you to discover more exciting food allergy resources at FoodAllergyAwareness.org!

Transcript

Caroline: Welcome to FAACTS Roundtable, a podcast dedicated to navigating life with food allergies across the lifespan. Presented in a welcoming format with interviews and open discussions,

each episode will explore a specific topic, leaving you with the facts to know or use.

Information presented via this podcast is educational and not intended to provide individual medical advice.

Please consult with your personal board-certified allergist or healthcare providers for advice specific to your situation.

Caroline: Hi everyone, I'm Caroline Moassessi and I am your host for the FAACT Roundtable Podcast. I am a food allergy parent and advocate and the founder of the Grateful Foodie Blog. And I am FAACT's Vice President of Community Relations.

Caroline: Before we start today's podcast, I just want to pause for one moment to say thank you to Abbott for being a kind sponsor of FAACT's roundtable podcast.

Dietary management of food allergies includes identifying the allergen that triggers the reaction and avoiding those foods that contain that allergen.

As a result,

children with these dietary restrictions and food allergies may be at risk for inadequate nutritional intake. Today, we sit down with Andy Lee Gonzalez, Senior Pediatric Medical Science Liaison with Abbott Nutrition Medical Affairs and Research,

who describes the role of specialized nutrition support and why it's important in the dietary management of food allergies.

Welcome Andie FAACTS Roundtable podcast.

Caroline: We're absolutely delighted to have you here today to help us understand nutrition better.

Andie: Thank you so much for having me.

Caroline: Well, you're welcome.

Let's start out by explaining to our listeners why we're even doing this podcast.

Can you explain what is meant by specialized nutrition and share a few examples of what this includes?

Andie: Yes. Happy to do so. We're doing this podcast because nutrition plays a powerful role in helping children with special health needs to grow and thrive.

Specialized nutrition support means specially formulated or medical nutrition interventions that are designed to meet unique dietary requirements when regular foods are just not enough so, such as hypoallergenic formulas or oral nutrition supplements.

These options help fill nutrient gaps, support growth,

and make meal time less stressful for families managing medical conditions like food allergies or chronic illness.

By starting the conversation early,

we together can show parents how nutrition can be a tool for safety,

health and and confidence in their child's care plan.

Caroline: Thank you so much for that explanation. So now going a little deeper. What does it mean for a specialized nutritional product to be considered hypoallergenic?

Andie: When a specialized nutritional product is labeled hypoallergenic, it means it has been specially formulated to reduce the risk of allergic reactions.

Hypoallergenic formulas are recommended in clinical guidelines for infants and children with cow's milk allergy or multiple food allergies as they help provide essential nutrition while minimizing allergy symptoms.

Caroline: Excellent. Thank you for that clarity. You know, sometimes in our food allergy world we hear these words hypoallergenic and we're utterly confused. So thank you so much. I appreciate that answer.

So now moving on on what is malnutrition and why are children with food allergies at risk for malnutrition?

Malnutrition may be a really scary word.

Is it the same as inadequate nutrition intake?

Andie: Malnutrition may be a scary word. What it means is that the body isn't getting the right balance of nutrients it needs to grow,

heal and thrive.

It's not just about eating too little food.

It can also happen when the diet lacks enough essential vitamins, minerals, protein and or energy.

So yes, inadequate nutrient intake is one cause of malnutrition,

but malnutrition is broader. It also includes both undernutrition and imbalanced nutrition.

Caroline: So how common is malnutrition?

Andie: Globally, about 42.8 million children under five are affected by malnutrition, and they can be malnourished for many different reasons,

often because they just don't have access to enough food.

However, even in developed countries where access to adequate food isn't necessarily a problem,

children with chronic conditions or dietary restrictions are at a higher risk for malnutrition.

Among children with food allergies,

studies show greater risk for poor growth or nutrient deficiencies if their diet isn't carefully managed.

Caroline: So then why are children with food allergies at risk for malnutrition?

Andie: When a child has food allergies, certain common foods like milk, eggs, peanuts or wheat must be avoided to prevent allergic reactions.

These foods often provide important nutrients like protein,

calcium,

vitamin D, and healthy fats.

If nutritious replacements aren't carefully planned,

the child may miss out on these key nutrients, which can lead to malnutrition over time.

And some risk factors include multiple food allergies, especially milk and egg,

limited access to appropriate alternatives,

and then also the lack of dietitian or nutrition guidance can also put them at risk for that malnutrition.

Caroline: Excellent. Now that we understand the risk of malnutrition and what it is, can you speak to the more specific concerns associated with cow's milk allergy?

Andie: Yes, cow's milk allergy is one of the most common childhood food allergies,

affecting about 2 to 3% of children under age 3.

While eliminating milk Protein is essential for appropriate dietary management.

It also removes a major source of protein and calcium, vitamin D, riboflavin and iodine,

nutrients that are critical for growth,

bone health and overall development.

And you might be asking, why does this matter?

Well, calcium and vitamin D are key for strong bones and teeth.

Without milk or fortified dairy, children may be at risk for poor bone mineralization and even rickets. If vitamin D intake is very low,

milk provides high quality protein.

If not replaced, growth can slow if a child has multiple food allergies, the risk of malnutrition also increases.

Picky eating combined with allergy restrictions can make nutrient gaps worse.

And then also without that nutritional guidance from a healthcare professional,

families may avoid milk longer than necessary,

missing opportunities for tolerance development.

Caroline: Thank you so much for that explanation.

Next,

going a little deeper into our conversation,

how can specialized nutrition products help meet nutritional needs, support growth and reduce risk for malnutrition?

Andie: Specialized nutrition products like hypoallergenic formula can fill in the gaps when important foods are removed from a child's diet,

providing key nutrients like protein, calcium and vitamins that support growth.

By offering hypoallergenic balance alternatives,

these products can help reduce the risk of malnutrition and make mealtime less stressful for families that are managing food allergies.

Caroline: Thank you so much for that explanation. So now, before we say goodbye today, is there anything else you want our listeners to hear from you?

Andie: Yes, managing food allergies isn't just about avoiding ingredients in foods.

It's about making sure your child still gets all the nutrients they need to grow and thrive.

That's where a registered dietitian becomes an essential partner in your care plan.

Why involve a dietitian early?

Well, dietitians play a critical role in food allergy management.

They help prevent nutrient gaps by ensuring that when foods like milk, eggs or wheat are eliminated,

the child still receives these essential nutrients such as protein, calcium, vitamin D,

iron with among others.

They also help plan appropriate substitutions,

identifying allergy friendly alternatives that fit the child's preferences,

and also family cultural food habits as well as in addition,

dietitians support growth by monitoring weight and height to make sure the child's development stays on track.

And finally, if the child is a candidate for oral food challenges or food reintroduction,

dietitians work closely with the allergist to guide this process, safely reducing nutrition risk and easing that transition.

Caroline: Thank you so much for that information about how a dietitian plays a really important role in the management of food allergies.

I have been very fortunate to have my children work with dietitians and it is life changing and it is an area that I think we underestimate and we forget about.

So thank you so much for giving us this great insight and wisdom.

Are there also any additional resources that you would like to share with our listeners?

Andie: Yes, there's additional resources and food allergy management tools by visiting Avenutrition health institutenhi.org there's some handouts specifically on diagnosis and appropriate identification of food allergy and then also another helpful handout that is does your child have a food allergy?

And so again,

there's a lot of great resources that really help support families.

Caroline: Thank you. We appreciate every bit of information you're sharing with listeners. Don't worry. Look for the show notes, and I will have links to all these wonderful websites that Andy has just mentioned.

Andy, this has been so informative, and I just really appreciate you taking the time

out of your very busy day to

spend time with us to help educate us in the area that sometimes we just don't get enough information.

So thank you so much for your time today.

Andie: Thank you.

Caroline: Before we say goodbye, I just want to say thank you one more time to Abbott for being a kind sponsor of FAACT's roundtable podcast.

Caroline: Thank you for listening to FAACT's Roundtable Podcast.

Stay tuned for future episodes coming soon.

Please subscribe, leave a review and listen to our podcast on Pandora, Apple Podcasts, Spotify,

Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio and Stitcher.

Have a great day and always be kind to one another.