Did you know?

My son's skin prick test for nuts. Even the specialist had a disbelieving chuckle. Poor kid.

A child does not inherit a specific allergy from either parent, but it does inherit the likelihood to become allergic and the allergy itself can manifest in any form (eg food, environmental, medical).

If neither parent has allergic disease, offspring have about 20% chance of developing an allergic disease.
If one parent has an allergy, the likelihood jumps to about 30-40%.
If both parents have some sort of allergy, their child has a 60-80% likelihood of developing allergic disease.

The severity of an allergic reaction cannot be inherited.

It is unlikely that genetics are to blame for the increase in rate of allergic disease.

I have medical allergies and my husband has asthma and a lot of environmental allergies such as dustmites. So not really surprising that we have 2 allergic children.

How do your chances rate? And, if you have children, do these percentages fit your family?

Reference - Managing Your Child's Food Allergies by Alison Orman. Harper Collins 2009, p12