Food allergy directly related to childhood anxiety: Experts

New Delhi : Food allergy is directly related to childhood anxiety and depressions, find researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology.

The research that was carried out on a sample of children produced results showing food allergy had a significantly higher prevalence of childhood anxiety.

The results of the study have been published in Journal of Pediatrics.

The researchers conducted the study on 80 pediatric patients with an average age of 8, with and without food allergy and their caregivers from urban pediatric outpatient clinics in the Bronx, New York.

Over 57 percent children with food allergy reported anxiety compared to 48 percent of children without a food allergy.

"Management of food allergy can be expensive both in terms of food shopping, meal preparation, and the cost of epinephrine auto-injectors, which expire annually," said Renee Goodwin, PhD, in the Department of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health and lead author. "These demands could result in higher levels of anxiety for those with fewer financial resources and further heighten anxiety symptoms in children and their caregivers."

The results state that food allergy has a direct connection with childhood anxiety and depression.