{"id":1613,"date":"2022-12-09T06:27:14","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T06:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nalent.com\/?p=1613"},"modified":"2022-12-09T06:27:16","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T06:27:16","slug":"study-finds-a-connection-between-childhood-anxiety-and-food-allergies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nalent.com\/study-finds-a-connection-between-childhood-anxiety-and-food-allergies\/","title":{"rendered":"Study Finds a Connection Between Childhood Anxiety and Food Allergies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Food allergies can cause a lot of problems for children who have them. A new study shows that <a href=\"https:\/\/nalent.com\/pediatrics\/pediatric-allergy-sinus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">children with food allergies<\/a> experience higher rates of anxiety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Food Allergies Increase Childhood Anxiety <\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1254\" height=\"836\" src=\"https:\/\/nalent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/iStock-497444988.jpg\" alt=\"Little boy sitting in front of a container of peanuts.\" class=\"wp-image-1616\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nalent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/iStock-497444988.jpg 1254w, https:\/\/nalent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/iStock-497444988-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/nalent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/iStock-497444988-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1254px) 100vw, 1254px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>A study from Columbia University\u2019s Mailman School of Public Health studied 80 pediatric patients with and without food allergies between the ages of 4-12 years old to compare rates of anxiety and depression. They found that while depression levels were similar between both groups, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0022347617306029\" target=\"_blank\">anxiety levels were consistently higher in children with food allergies<\/a>. Specifically:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>57% of children with food allergies reported symptoms of anxiety<\/li><li>48% of children with no allergies reported symptoms of anxiety<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Explaining the Relationship<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are multiple reasons why this study showed increased levels of anxiety in children with food allergies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps most obviously, is that food allergies can cause serious physical symptoms and, in some cases, even be life-threatening. It\u2019s not surprising that children dealing with these symptoms would experience increased anxiety and fear around this issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Secondly, the participants of this study came predominantly from a lower socioeconomic class. The management of food allergies can be expensive. It involves care food shopping, meal preparation as well the costs of medical treatment. This financial burden can increase household stress and raise anxiety levels in both children and their caregivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lastly, food allergies in this study seemed particularly linked to social anxiety and fear of rejection among their peers. In an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.publichealth.columbia.edu\/public-health-now\/news\/researchers-find-link-between-food-allergies-and-childhood-anxiety\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">interview<\/a>, the lead author of the study, Dr. Renee Goodwin, stated that \u201cManagement of a potentially life-threatening condition may be anxiety provoking, and some children may experience increased social anxiety about being \u201cdifferent\u201d from other children depending on their age and how food allergy is managed by adults in a particular setting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Researchers call for further investigation into the relationship between food allergies and childhood anxiety to determine ways to best meet any mental health needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Treating Food Allergies in Kids<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you believe your child may be suffering from food allergies, schedule an appointment with an allergist. They can help to determine your child\u2019s specific food triggers via <a href=\"https:\/\/nalent.com\/allergy\/allergy-testing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">allergy testing<\/a> and provide you with medication like an EpiPen to have on hand in case of a severe reaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The best way to treat a food allergy is to avoid all triggers. This means being aware of what is in any dish your child orders at restaurants and being mindful of what foods you pick up at grocery stores or the Madison County Farmers Market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information or to schedule an appointment for your child, contact <span class=\"company-name \">North Alabama ENT Associates<\/span> today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><ul class=\"related-posts\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/nalent.com\/how-to-manage-allergies-when-travelling\/\" class=\"related-post\">How To Manage Allergies When Travelling<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/nalent.com\/how-to-reduce-dust-mites-in-your-home\/\" class=\"related-post\">How To Reduce Dust Mites in Your Home<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/nalent.com\/how-can-i-prepare-my-child-for-allergy-testing\/\" class=\"related-post\">How Can I Prepare My Child for Allergy Testing?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Food allergies can cause a lot of problems for children who have them. A new study shows that children with food allergies experience higher rates of anxiety. Food Allergies Increase Childhood Anxiety A study from Columbia University\u2019s Mailman School of Public Health studied 80 pediatric patients with and without food allergies between the ages of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1616,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"A new study shows that children with food allergies experience higher rates of anxiety. Let&#039;s examine the reasons why.","_seopress_robots_index":"","schema":"","fname":"","lname":"","position":"","credentials":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":"","locid":"","rating":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nalent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1613"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nalent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nalent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nalent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nalent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1613"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nalent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1618,"href":"https:\/\/nalent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1613\/revisions\/1618"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nalent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nalent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nalent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nalent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}