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Objective. To assess the prevalence of food allergy in children presenting to a multidisciplinary feeding program. Methods. A retrospective chart review was conducted from 302 patients. We recorded history of food reaction, family history of any atopic disease, radioallergosorbent testing, prematurity, birth weight, breastfeeding history, Z-scores, age, and gastrointestinal mucosal biopsy reports with eosinophilic infiltrate. Three categories of possible food allergy were stratified based on increasing evidence of allergy. Results. Possible food allergy was found for 18% (n = 54), likely food allergy for 6% (n = 18), and very likely food allergy for 16% (n = 47) for a total of 40% classified in a food allergy group. Having been breastfed correlated with likelihood of food allergy but tube-feeding dependence did not. Conclusion. This study revealed a higher proportion of children in a feeding program with food allergy compared to the general population, but larger prospective studies are needed to confirm the association.

Background In conjunction with the rising prevalence of obesity during the past several decades, the clinical profile of the obese child has changed. Hypothesis. Environmental influences and eating practices have had an impact on the presence of medical morbidities among obese children.Design Retrospective chart review of data collected from 90 children entering into a pediatric weight management program was performed. Fisher's exact tests and Wilcoxon rank sum tests were used to compare outcomes between subpopulations.Results There was greater elevation in systolic blood pressure among children who ate in front of the television ( P = .03) and a greater degree of fast-food consumption among children with more than 3 medical morbidities ( P = .02). Breast-feeding did not have a protective effect on the degree of obesity ( P = .02).Conclusion Aggressive assessment for symptoms should be an important part of evaluating the overweight child. Environmental influences and social feeding practices can counteract the protective effects of breast-feeding in infancy.