frequency of food allergy among students in ahvaz universities of medical sciences and shahid chamran - a questionnaire study

background food allergy is now recognized as a worldwide health problem, especially in western nations, and like other atopic disorders, it appears to be on the increase. the aim this study was to estimate the prevalence of food allergy in students in ahvaz city. material and methods a cross-sectional, descriptive, questionnaire-based study was conducted on 3482 ahvaz medical and sh.chamran universities students in 2009. results out of 3482 participants1536 (44.1%) and 1946(55.9%) were men and women respectively, with a mean ±sd age of 21.96±3.179 years. the main foods reported as causing adverse reactions were eggplant (20.3%), melon (163%), and processed meats (15.5%). the results indicated overall rate of sensitization to aeroallergens was 49.6%, and it was also observed that 28.3% of these subjects were sensitized to at least one food allergens. moreover, in this study, significantly more food-allergic subjects were born in spring (58.3%. p<0.01).