Children of Asian ethnicity in Australia have higher risk of food allergy and early‐onset eczema than those in Singapore

Background In Western countries, Asian children have higher food allergy risk than Caucasian children. The early‐life environmental exposures for this discrepancy are unclear. We aimed to compare prevalence of food allergy and associated risk factors between Asian children in Singapore and Australia. Methods We studied children in the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) birth cohort (n = 878) and children of Asian ancestry in the HealthNuts cohort (n = 314). Food allergy was defined as a positive SPT ≥3 mm to egg or peanut AND either a convincing history of IgE‐mediated reaction at 18 months (GUSTO) or a positive oral food challenge at 14‐18 months (HealthNuts). Eczema was defined as parent‐reported doctor diagnosis. Results Food allergy prevalence was 1.1% in Singapore and 15.0% in Australia (P10 months) in Singapore (63.5%) than Australia (16.3%; P