Which infants with eczema are at risk of food allergy? Results from a population-based cohort

Summary Background The relationship between early onset eczema and food allergy among infants has never been examined in a population‐based sample using the gold standard for diagnosis, oral food challenge. Objective We characterised the risk of challenge‐proven food allergy among infants with eczema in the general population. Methods One‐year‐old infants (n = 4453 meeting criteria for this analysis) were assessed for history of eczema, received a nurse‐administered eczema examination and underwent skin prick testing to peanut, egg and sesame. Those with a detectable wheal to one of the test foods underwent an oral food challenge irrespective of wheal size. The risk of food allergy, stratified by eczema severity and age of onset, was estimated using multivariate logistic regression with population sampling weights. Results One in five infants with eczema were allergic to peanut, egg white or sesame, compared to one in twenty‐five infants without eczema (OR 6.2, 95% CI 4.9, 7.9, P