Food Allergy costs are high for families in the United States, amounts to $25 a billion annually

Having to live with a food allergy can be difficult, no doubt. However, it can be very costly as well, both for families as well as the United States, amounting to almost $25 billion a year.

According to a new study published by JAMA Pedriatrics, the authors express the need for more attention to food allergies, by concluding, “In summary, childhood food allergy in the United States places a considerable economic burden on families and society. Given these findings, research to develop an effective food allergy treatment and cure is critically needed.”

The study which was conducted by researchers at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and led by Dr. Ruchi Gupta, estimated medical, out-of-pocket and lost work productivity costs of caregivers of 1643 children with food allergies.

While these food allergies are a significant burden, in terms of expenditure to the healthcare system, it’s also just as expensive for families since they have to spend a substantial amount in order to have their children stick to special diets that are allergy-friendly.

What researchers found was that the annual costs related to food allergies amounted to $24.8 billion and about $4184 per child. The total costs were divided into $20.5 billion in costs to families and $4.5 billion in direct medical costs where hospitalizations took up the most cost, at $1.9 billion a year.

The remaining $1.7 billion was due to the allergy-friendly foods and special diets that was required where lost labor productivity amounted to $773 million.

And this definitely raises cause for concern as according to Medical News Today, the number of children in the United States with food and skin allergies have increased over the last few years.