Report: 7.6 million Americans suffer food allergies

About 7.6 million Americans — or 2.6 percent of the country — suffer from food allergies, the National Institute of Health (NIH) reported Monday, noting that age, gender and ethnicity all seem to play a role.

Black male kids are 4.4 times more likely than the general population to have a food allergy, the researchers found, though the factors behind the discrepancy are not yet clear. 

Researchers also reported a link between food allergies and asthma attacks, finding that asthma patients with food allergies were almost seven times more likely to have a severe asthma attack than those without food allergies.

"This study provides further credence that food allergies may be contributing to severe asthma episodes, and suggests that people with a food allergy and asthma should closely monitor both conditions and be aware that they might be related," Andrew Liu, a researcher at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and lead author on the paper, said in a statement. 

Among the findings: 

• Children aged one to five showed the highest food allergy rates (4.2 percent). 

• Adults over the age of 60 had the lowest rates (1.3 percent).  

• Peanut allergies were found in 1.8 percent of kids aged one to five, and in 2.7 percent of kids between six and 19.