Children's allergies to peanuts, dairy and other food cost the United States nearly $25 billion a year, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Researchers led by Dr. Ruchi Gupta, a pediatrician at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and a professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, surveyed 1,643 parents around the country who have at least one child with a food allergy.
According to the survey, food allergies affect eight percent of American kids. The report found that $4.3 billion is spent on medical attention for children who suffer from food alleegies and lost productivity of parents who had to take their children to these appointments added $773 million.
Children with food allergies must buy special allergen-free food and parents must try to place their children in allergy-sensitive schools or make special arrangements in facilities. These costs totaled $5.5 billion, the report stated.
Parents who have children with allergies, were found to be restricted in the workforce. Many parents either take fewer jobs or lesser hours to accommodate their children's medical condition. About nine percent of parents said they endured some type of work-related restriction and some have admitted to being fired or laid off as a result. On average, these cost has added up to $14 billion a year.
The survey found the grand total for these expenses came up to $24.8 billion a year, which is about $4,184 per child. Medical expenses that would be covered by insurance cost families $20.5 billion.
Researchers asked parents to consider how much they would pay each month for a medicine that would cure their child's allergy? The average response, annualized, was $3,504.
Parents "often need to be at school, social events, or camp to educate and affirm the seriousness of their child's condition," the researchers noted in their report, which was published online Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
"In case of an emergency, caregivers may not be able or willing to take a job that requires travel or many hours away from their child."
