Food Allergy Kids and Bullies

Attack with a blunt instrument? A peanut bar? Yes, it could happen and it does happen in school cafeterias and beyond. The perpetrators are bullies, and the victims are children with food allergies, for example, peanuts. And the potential result could be death.

A study recently published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology found that 35 percent of kids over five years old who have a food allergy experienced being bullied, teased or harassed at school. This study included three authors who have been or are currently affiliated with the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network. The study states that right now one in every 25 children has a food allergy. That percentage is significantly higher than the number of kids without food allergies who say that they are bullied. And it's not just other kids who are doing the bullying.

Twenty one percent of victims reported the perpetrators to be teachers or school staff members. The bullied individuals described 57 percent of episodes as involving intentionally being touched with the allergen or having the allergen-containing food thrown at or waved in front of them, and several reported intentional contamination of their food with the allergen.

Gina Clowes, editor of allergymoms.com and a coach for parents on food allergies, hears stories about food-allergic kids targeted by others in school all the time. The warning signs are similar to other form of bullying, Clowes says. A child may appear sad, upset, withdrawn, anxious, or say that he or she doesn't want to go to school. But parents should also look for changes in their kids' eating habits. They may come home with an untouched lunchbox, for example.

"The school has to really address it. It's not the child's job to take care of this problem, because there's already an imbalance of power," said study author Dr. Scott Sicherer, pediatric allergist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

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