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Article: Elimination Diet
- Article from:
- Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health: Infancy throughAdolescence
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Thomson Gale. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Elimination diet
Definition
An elimination diet is the systematic elimination of foods or group of foods from the diet suspected in causing a food allergy. It is used as a means to diagnose an allergic reaction to foods.
Purpose
While people of all ages can develop an allergic sensitivity to certain foods, such
allergies
are especially common among children. In the United States, one child in six develops an allergic reaction to certain substances, and foods are among the prime offenders. (Many
food allergies
are outgrown during adolescence.) Food elimination is considered only when no other cause can be found for the symptoms the child is experiencing. Common symptoms of food ...