Abstract
Background: Racial differences in access to allergen-free food have not been fully described among children with food allergy (FA). Objective: To examine access to allergen-free foods among Black and White children with FA. Methods: Black and White children with FA were enrolled in Food Allergy Outcomes Related to White and African American Racial Differences (FORWARD), a multisite prospective cohort study at 4 urban US centers. Caregivers completed questionnaires regarding access to allergen-free foods. Univariable statistics described demographics. Bivariable statistics evaluated crude associations with access to allergen-free foods. Multivariable logistic regression evaluated the adjusted effect of race on access to allergen-free foods. Geospatial analyses examined the distribution of race, socioeconomic status, and food desert residence. Results: Among participants (n = 336), White caregivers (88.1%) were more likely to report access to allergen-free foods than Black caregivers (59%) (P <.001). White caregivers were more likely to purchase allergen-free foods online (35.2%) than Black caregivers (12%) (P <.001). Although Black children were more likely to live in a food desert, access to allergen-free food was not related to food desert residence. In the unadjusted analysis, White children were 5.2 times as likely to have access than Black children (P <.001); after adjusting for demographics, this increase in access was no longer significant (P =.08). Other predictors of access to allergen-free foods included online food purchasing, annual household income, respondent education level, milk allergy, and child age >5 years. Conclusion: In the FORWARD cohort, Black children have less access to allergen-free foods than White children, but much of the difference is accounted for by socioeconomic status and other participant characteristics.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 182-188 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 2022 |
Funding
This study is fully funded by the National Institutes of Health ( NIH ): FORWARD (NIH number: 1R01AI130348-01A1 ). Conflicts of interest: H. Sharma receives grant funding from the NIH , Aimmune Therapeutics , DBV , Regeneron , and Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE). A. A. Pappalardo serves as a consultant for OptumRX and on the Board of Directors for the Chicago Asthma Consortium. L. Bilaver receives research grant support from the NIH , Thermo Fisher Scientific , FARE , Genentech , National Confectioners Association , and Before Brands Inc. M. Tobin receives grant funding from the NIH and the Stanford Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy Research. R. Gupta reports receiving research grant support from the NIH (R21 ID # AI135705 , R01 ID # AI130348 , U01 ID # AI138907 ), FARE , Stanford Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy Research, UnitedHealth Group , Thermo Fisher Scientific , Genentech , Walder Foundation , Melchiorre Family Foundation , Rho Inc. , Sunshine Charitable Foundation , and the National Confectioners Association ; and has served as a medical consultant/advisor for AllerGenis LLC , Aimmune Therapeutics , Genentech , Before Brands , Kaléo Inc. , Novartis , DBV Technologies , Pfizer , ICER , DOTS Technology , and FARE. The rest of the authors declare that they have no relevant conflicts of interest.
Keywords
- Access
- Black
- Children
- Disparities
- FORWARD
- Food allergy
- Race
- White
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology and Allergy