A new study has put a price on the high costs families with children who have food allergies must endure.
According to a report in the Sept. 16 issue of JAMA Pediatrics, the average cost for families with food sensitivities nationwide tops out at $25 billion a year.
Researchers in Chicago interviewed more than 1,600 people whose children had food allergies, paying special attention to the economic impact their sensitivities brought on - medical bills, buying food from specialty markets and missing days of work all played a part in the study.
Each child cost an average of around $4,180 for trips to the doctor or emergency room and other kinds of special treatment.
In a breakdown of the costs, researchers calculated that $4.3 billion went straight to medical payments, while family-related costs like taking time off work required households to pay about $770 million. $5.5 billion was spent on other expenses, including specialty foods. The remaining $14.2 billion went to what researchers called "lost opportunity" - having to give up jobs or time at work as a result of the food allergy.
Author Dr. Ruchi Gupta, associate professor of pediatrics and primary care at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago told USA Today that caregivers "end up having to spend extra on foods to make sure they are safe," which usually means having to frequent specialty stores selling more expensive, safer options.
Around eight percent of children in America have food allergies - a number that has been steadily rising in the recent past. The most common and often most serious allergy is a sensitivity to peanuts, which, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, hits about .6 percent of people living in the United States.
Based on their results, the researchers urged grocery stores to stock more food-sensitive items, and asked schools to arrange for kids with allergies to receive faster and more complete treatment, so that families won't have to fork up so much cash.
"Given these findings, research to develop an effective food allergy treatment and cure is critically needed," they stated.
