Researchers from Southampton General Hospital have been warning after a study that a child is at greater risk of having an allergy if his or her parent of same-sex has the same, according to a recent report, published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Allergy and immunology’s consultant Professor Hasan Arshad and colleagues have revealed the same on evidence from data taken out using the Isle of Wight (IOW). The team’s main aim behind carrying out the IOW cohort study was only to look at the growth of asthma and allergic diseases in a whole population.

They also looked at if any genetic factors or environmental factors are linked to the same. As per the report, the IOW from the South coast of England was considered since it allows long-term prospective epidemiological studies.

Enrolling some 1,500 children and analyzing them at the ages of 1, 2, 4, 10 and 18 years, the team found that the risk of a girl to get asthma was higher if her mother was suffering from the same. Or a boy was highly likely to get a particular kind of allergy like eczema if his father had the same. "Now, with these groundbreaking findings, we should see a change in the way we assess a child's risk of disease”, said Prof. Arshad.