Educating the next generation

There continues to be issues on understanding food allergy.

• Food allergy is not consistently understood – 30% of Canadians were unaware that a person with a food allergy cannot consume any of their allergen, and less than 4-in-10 knew there was no cure  
• There is public confusion between food allergy and food intolerance and a lack of understanding of the seriousness of food allergy which contributes to public insensitivity  

There are mental health impacts affecting youth with food allergy.  

• 1-in-3 children with food allergy report being bullied, specifically because of their food allergy 
• Students with food allergy experience social exclusion and stigma in schools  

We helped to bring groundbreaking school anaphylaxis policies like Sabrina’s Law to ensure students with food allergy were kept safe. We helped to make schools safer with AllergyAware.ca, our online course that provides anaphylaxis education to school personnel and childcare staff. 

Yet we need to educate the next generation by incorporating food literacy and food allergy education in school curriculum to normalize food allergy, increase empathy, and build community skills around anaphylaxis management.