Summary: A new study reveals a link between a food allergy diagnosis and social anxiety in children of low socioeconomic status. The study found 57% of children with food allergies report anxiety symptoms. Researchers suggest food allergies are linked to elevated social anxiety, fear of social rejection and also humiliation in children.

Source: Columbia University.

Researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and Albert Einstein College of Medicine studied the link between food allergy and childhood anxiety and depression among a sample of predominantly low socioeconomic status minority children. The results showed that children with a food allergy had a significantly higher prevalence of childhood anxiety. Food allergies were not associated with symptoms of childhood depression or with symptoms of anxiety or depression among their caregivers. The results are published in the Journal of Pediatrics.

Food allergies are increasingly common among youth in the U.S. with recent…