Food Allergy Awareness and Nutritional Management by the Parents of Preschool Children

Kim, Soo Bin; Kim, Jung Hee

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This study was performed to measure the food allergy (FA) awareness and management by the parents of preschool children.
METHODS
A questionnaire survey was conducted with the parents of preschool children. The questionnaire was designed to identify the prevalence of food allergies, requirements of food allergy support and differences in food management according to the presence or absence allergic diseases, using a modified International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire. After excluding incomplete responses, the data of 158 parents of preschool children (90.3%) was used for statistical analysis.
RESULTS
The rate of the preschool children who had experienced food allergy (FA, ever) was 38.6% while diagnosed for food allergy by doctor (Diagnosis of FA, ever) was 17.7%. Forty nine preschool children (80.3%) had food restriction, and twenty three of them (37.7%) had self-restriction without diagnosis. The consumption frequencies of allergenic foods in FA group, such as ramyeon, noodles, bread, eggs, yogurt and ice cream were significantly (p<0.001) lower than those of the other two groups. The major allergenic foods were eggs, milk, wheat and processed foods in FA group. The overall food allergy-related knowledge level of parents was insufficient. Only 26 parents (16.5%) had received training about food allergies. All parents wanted to receive food allergy-related supports. In addition, most of parents wanted information on substitute menu for children with food allergy.
CONCLUSIONS
This study identified a lack of food allergy training for the parents of preschool children and the necessity for food allergy education. Food allergy-related supports, such as menus without allergenic ingredients, guidelines for managing food allergy & anaphylaxis emergency care plan etc, should be provided to the parents in order to avoid events related to food allergies.