Mr Meeuws said his daughter Eva (11) was 2 years old when she started getting rashes and breathing difficulties.
''We couldn't figure out what it was,'' Mr Meeuws said, speaking on the eve of Allergy Awareness Week, which begins today.
''They went to a naturopath, who referred them to Allergy New Zealand to get tested and a specialist diagnosed wheat, eggs, nut and animal [dandruff and spit] allergies, he said.
''Then we started to learn how to handle her allergies and how to cope.''
Wheat and eggs were removed from her diet for two years and then slowly reintroduced, he said.
Now, Eva could eat egg and wheat, but eating nuts and interaction with some animals were still problems, he said.
''She swells up and can't breathe and, worst-case scenario, she will die.''
There had been ''scary moments'' where antihistamines had been used ''to calm her down'', he said.
Continued education about allergies was necessary to ensure children at risk were exposed to fewer dangers, he said.
Dr Thorsten Stanley, senior lecturer in paediatrics at the University of Otago in Wellington, said many schools in New Zealand had a ''peanut-free policy'' and the dangers of allergies had been ''exaggerated''. He ''challenged'' preschool children with a nut allergy by feeding them peanut butter.
''Even the ones who will supposedly die when they have peanuts, we'll challenge them.''
The family could witness how much peanut butter the child could consume before breaking out in hives, he said.
''And they [the parents] feel much better. We do a lot of that challenging. It's very time-consuming but we think for the family, it is a very important service.''
More children were entering his clinic with allergies, which could be a result of increased media coverage.
In the past, children with allergies were often not taken to a doctor, Dr Stanley said.
Health professionals were perplexed as to the reason for an increase in allergies in children but many had theories, Dr Stanley said.
''The most common theory was that the world was too clean.''
Children were being exposed to fewer inflammatory stimuli from infectious agents than in the past, he said.
''As a result, the immune system does something strange.''
Allergies were more common in First World countries than in the Third World, he said.
Children in the Third World had similar positive tests for allergies as those in the First World but without the symptoms.
''Their body ignores the message.''
