Citation

Fong AT, Katelaris CH, Wainstein B. J. Paediatr. Child Health 2017; 53(7): 630-635.

Affiliation

Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Sydney Children's Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/jpc.13570

PMID

28608485

Abstract

Food allergy is an increasing phenomenon in Australia, with most recent reports of food allergy occurring in 1 in 12 children. A number of studies have demonstrated that children and adolescents with food allergies experience a decreased quality of life across a number of domains. More recent evidence suggests that this population also experiences an increased occurrence of bullying compared to similar school-aged children. Some individuals have reported being bullied because of their allergies, whilst others have reported specific allergy-related-bullying, such as being touched with foods that they are allergic to or having their food being intentionally contaminated with an allergen. Where there may be a risk of severe anaphylaxis, this is of great concern. This article reviews the current literature on bullying in populations of children and adolescents with food allergies. Several papers worldwide have investigated this, providing evidence of its occurrence in North America, Canada, Italy and Japan.

© 2017 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (The Royal Australasian College of Physicians).

Language: en

Keywords

adolescent; allergy; bullying; child; teasing