Table 2 Comments from parents of school age children: does banning allergenic foods make allergic students safe?
Responses, reasons and concerns | Parent of children with food allergy N = 38 (%a) | Parent of child without food allergy N = 141 (%a) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|
Support banning foods | 7 (18%) | 24 (17%) | 0.40 |
Teacher workload decreased | |||
Lower risk of reactions | |||
Request for non-food reward | |||
Parents take responsibility for health | |||
Concern with number of foods banned | 5 (13%) | 21 (15%) | 0.36 |
Only some allergenic foods banned | |||
Picky eaters or cultural preferences | |||
Higher cost of allowed foods | |||
Restrictions in classes with no allergy | |||
Punishment for accidental allergens | |||
Issues different at different ages | 8 (21%) | 20 (14%) | 0.15 |
Needs change with age | |||
May give a false/temporary sense of security | |||
Adherence concerns | 19 (50%) | 26 (18%) | < 0.0001 |
Families will not adhere to banning | |||
Families of children without food allergy do not avoid food allergens effectively | |||
Families of children without food allergy request more information | |||
Banning is no guarantee of safety | 8 (21%) | 39 (28%) | 0.20 |
Prefer allergen aware vs. allergen free | |||
Previous outside consumption | |||
Against banning | 5 (13%) | 40 (28%) | 0.03 |
Restaurant/grocery higher risk | |||
Ineffective/more reactions | |||
Prefer education/adequate cleaning | |||
Safety/responsibility start at home | |||
Support segregation by table or class |