Food allergy in children: treatment challenges and outcome standardization

Abstract

Relevance. Food allergy (FA) is an important public health concern, particularly among children, with an increasing prevalence. It is associated with a significant decrease in the quality of life for patients and their families due to the need to avoid allergens and the risk of severe allergic reactions, such as anaphylaxis. Despite active research, the primary treatment remains elimination diets, which limit patients’ options and highlight the need for new therapeutic solutions.Aim of the review. This review aims to summarize the current treatment methods for food allergy, discuss the challenges in evaluating the effectiveness of interventions, and highlight the importance of standardizing outcomes in clinical trials to improve comparability and practical relevance.Content. The review discusses modern therapeutic approaches for food allergy, such as oral, epicutaneous, and sublingual immunotherapies, which have shown positive results in achieving tolerance to allergens. Special attention is given to safety concerns, particularly for children, emphasizing the need for further research. The potential use of biological agents, such as omalizumab, in food allergy treatment is also explored. The review addresses challenges in choosing and standardizing endpoints in clinical trials, where most focus on desensitization and immunological markers, while patient-centered outcomes, such as quality of life, remain under-researched. The implementation of “core outcome sets” is highlighted as an important step toward improving data comparability and forming a more objective basis for clinical recommendations.Conclusions. The review emphasizes significant progress in food allergy treatment but notes the need for further research to ensure the safety of new therapies, particularly for children. Standardizing outcomes in clinical trials plays a key role in improving the quality and comparability of research, which will, in turn, help develop more effective clinical guidelines and improve patients’ quality of life.

Keywords

• harmonization
• food allergy
• clinical trials
• treatment
• core outcome sets