When Food Allergy Meets Food Insecurity

More than 1 in 4 children with food allergy live in food-insecure families, highlighting a challenge that extends well beyond allergen avoidance. This episode explores how food insecurity, socioeconomic status, access to care, insurance coverage, geographic barriers, medication affordability, and access to allergen-free foods can affect food allergy management and quality of life. The conversation covers diagnostic accuracy, unnecessary elimination diets, targeted specific IgE testing, testing with allergen component, nutritional risk, emergency department utilization, pharmacoequity, food insecurity screening, and community resources. Clinicians will learn practical ways to identify barriers affecting their patients, refine food allergy diagnoses, reduce unnecessary food avoidance, and connect families with appropriate nutrition, social, and specialty resources.

Resources and references: https://www.thermofisher.com/phadia/us/en/resources/immunocast/food-allergy-disparities-food-insecurity-primary-care.html?cid=0ct_3pc_05032024_9SGOV4