• Posted January 21, 2025

Most Families Exclude Foods Linked to Allergies

Most parents of a child with a food allergy opt to cut the offending food completely out of their homes.

However, that strategy is tied to an emotional toll, researchers said.

Parents who exclude food from their home because of their child’s allergy have a worse quality of life on average, due to worry and anxiety, researchers reported in a study published last month in JAMA Network Open.

“In this study, most families chose to exclude food allergens from their household, and families engaging in this practice reported more food allergy-related psychosocial concerns than families who did not,” concluded the research team led by Hana Ruran, a research intern in immunology at Boston Children’s Hospital.

About 10% of children around the world have a food allergy, researchers said in background notes.

For this study, researchers surveyed more than 900 families of children with food allergies between April 2022 and November 2023.

Nearly two-thirds of parents (64%) responded to their child’s allergy by excluding the offending food from their home, results showed.

The most commonly excluded foods were peanut (62%), tree nut (55%) and sesame (51%), researchers found.

On the other hand, only 24% of homes with an egg allergy excluded eggs from their home. Cow’s milk, soy and wheat allergies also were less likely to prompt their exclusion from the pantry or fridge.

“Other studies have found that psychosocial distress may be experienced in greater proportions in families of children with peanut, tree nut, and sesame allergies compared with families of children with other food allergies, such as egg and milk, which are equally important, more prevalent, and potentially life-threatening,” the researchers wrote.

Parents who chose to exclude food from their home had worse average quality-of-life scores related to worry, anxiety and self-confidence, researchers found.

In addition, children 8 to 17 living in homes that exclude food due to allergies also are more likely to have higher anxiety scores. 

About 30% of children in homes that exclude food have elevated anxiety scores, compared with about 16% of those in homes that don’t cut out foods.

Doctors might be able to help families manage anxieties related to food allergies, researchers said.

“Our findings suggest that insight about the psychosocial well-being of a family could be obtained if clinicians asked how food allergies were managed in the home,” the team concluded. “Additionally, allocating time during appointments to discuss ways to manage food allergies may help decrease stress and anxiety for children.”

More information

Children’s Hospital Colorado has more on elimination diets for children.

SOURCE: JAMA Network Open, Dec. 27, 2024