{Reference Type}: Journal Article
{Title}: Access to Allergen-Free Food Among Black and White Children with Food Allergy in the FORWARD Study.
{Author}: Coleman AT;Sharma H;Robinson A;Pappalardo AA;Vincent E;Fierstein JL;Frazier M;Bilaver L;Jiang J;Choi JJ;Kulkarni A;Fox S;Warren C;Mahdavinia M;Tobin M;Assa'ad A;Gupta R;
{Journal}: J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract
{Volume}: 10
{Issue}: 1
{Year}: 01 2022
暂无{DOI}: 10.1016/j.jaip.2021.08.005
{Abstract}: Racial differences in access to allergen-free food have not been fully described among children with food allergy (FA).
To examine access to allergen-free foods among Black and White children with FA.
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.
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.
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.