Black children are more than twice as likely to have sensitivities to food allergies compared with white children, according to new research published in the journal Pediatrics.

Researchers found that black children were nearly 2.5 times as likely as white children to be sensitive to eight foods: egg whites, cow's milk, peanuts, soy, shrimp, walnuts, wheat and cod.

They particularly found that African ancestry was associated with peanut sensitization.

"What we did was confirm that, one, yes, there is increased risk among black children for food sensitization and, two, we are starting to get at why they are at increased risk," Dr. Rajesh Kumar a pediatrician at Northwestern University Medical School told Time Magazine.

The study was made with 1,104 children from multiple ethnicities who participated in regular health checkups at 6 months, 1 year, 2, 4 and 6 years of age.

Researchers measured the children's antibodies in relation to foods that were likely to generate a reaction.