In the wake of a recent visit by food allergy specialist author Sue Dengate, CQUniversity Senior Postgraduate Research Fellow Dr Karena Burke will provide an update on the 'Incidence of Food Intolerance in an Australian population'.

Dr Burke's free presentation will be held from 1pm-2pm on Friday April 17, at Rockhampton Campus (Building 33/Room G. 14), with videoconference links to Mackay, Gladstone, Bundaberg and Emerald campuses.

Dr Karena Burke

This event has been organised by the Institute for Health and Social Science Research (IHSSR) and refreshments will be available beforehand.

Dr Burke said that intolerances to specific foods had been linked to the severity of symptoms in psychological illnesses such as Autism and ADHD (e.g., Gluten, Salicylates). 

"Furthermore, emerging research from the UK provides evidence that the increased processing of food, and reliance on artificial food additives, could be having detrimental affects on the health and behaviour of children who do not present with such diagnoses.

"Given that food intolerance may be affecting children, and adults, in general, it is imperative that population-based prevalence estimates are established.

"Such data for food intolerances will indicate whether it is a substantial problem in the general population, or whether research would be best directed by focusing on clinical populations such as individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders and ADHD."

Dr Burke will present data from the first examination of incidence rates of diagnosed food intolerance in an Australian context.

"Data indicates that 21% of households in Queensland had at least one individual with a diagnosed food intolerance," she said.

"Trends concerning the co-occurrences of different types of food intolerance will also be presented.  The implications of these findings will be explored in the context of psychological development, individual well-being, and the way in which healthy food is conceptualised."