Biochemistry Paper: Food Allergies
Did you know that researchers estimate that up to 15 million Americans have food allergies (FARE, 2015)? That’s a lot when you think of it. With this starting fact do you know how food allergies work in the body and why people have them? Or how they can affect you other than physically? If not then keep reading and those questions will be answered. I will talk about and go into depth on how food allergies can affect you socially and mentally as well as how food allergies have a major impact on the body as well as the sociological aspect.
The main effect of food allergies affects you physically. Your immune system keeps you and your body healthy by fighting off infections and sicknesses to keep you healthy…show more content… A recent study in Italy showed that, of a group of children with food allergies, a fourth of those kids rarely attended social events, if they did at all. This is partially due to fear of eating an allergen, but largely due to the social stigma of being different. If kids with allergies even go to social events, they are more likely to bring food from home and then eat separately from everyone else (Huffington Post, 2015). For some people eating is like the best thing in the world. So when you can’t have something or are constantly having to ask and watch out for what you’re having it can sort of take the joy and fun out of eating. Kids that have food allergies also have the fear of being “different”. Kids get bullied because they have an allergy or they get looked at funny. People share food and to them that’s a way to show friendship and that you’re excepted and when a kid can’t do that they feel left out and that they’re different and don’t belong. Then through all this they feel bad about themselves, put tons of stress on themselves and their anxiety goes up. Food allergies overall are a big problem not just to your physical stature but to also your mental and social…show more content… Parents who have kids that have food allergies said that the food allergies had effect on how they go grocery shopping, meal planning, restaurant trips, and what social events they go to. That means that they always have to put a lot of planning into what they’re eating or doing. A study that was done said that one in 10 parents said they homeschooled their child because of the child's food allergies. Other parents said they avoided letting their child take part in these activities: Playing at friends' houses, attending Day care or after-school care, school parties or birthday parties, sleepovers at friends' houses, and attending extracurricular activity camps (Kid Food Allergies Effect Parents, 2015). That takes a lot of effort because when your kid can’t play at a friend’s house, you always have to have his/her friends come to your house, or you are always having to find something for them that can replace these activities so that they don’t feel left out or different and all that takes time and effort from the parents. Food allergies can be quite costly too because depending on the severity the parents will have to buy a supply of Epipens each year or some sort of medication just in case of an allergic reaction. They also have to pay for yearly allergy testing to stay on top of their child’s allergies, and most of all, grocery shopping. New research shows that childhood food allergies cost
