Table 5 Comments from parents and teachers of school age children: does banning allergenic foods make allergic students safe?
Responses, reasons and concerns | Parents of children with and without food allergy N = 179 (%a) | Teachers and school staff N = 90 (%a) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|
Support banning foods | 31 (17%) | 13 (14%) | 0.26 |
Teacher workload decreased | |||
Lower risk of reactions | |||
Request for non-food reward | |||
Parents take responsibility for health | |||
Concern with number of foods banned | 26 (14%) | 3 (3%) | 0.002 |
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 | 28 (16%) | 12 (13%) | 0.29 |
Needs change with age | |||
May give a false/temporary sense of security | |||
Adherence concerns | 45 (25%) | 26 (29%) | 0.23 |
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 | 47 (26%) | 39 (43%) | 0.002 |
Prefer allergen aware vs. allergen free | |||
Previous outside consumption | |||
Against banning | 45 (25%) | 16 (18%) | 0.09 |
Restaurant/grocery higher risk | |||
Ineffective/more reactions | |||
Prefer education/adequate cleaning | |||
Safety/responsibility start at home | |||
Support segregation by table or class |