Lawlis Tanya, Bakonyi Sarah, Williams Lauren T
School of Public Health and Nutrition, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia.
Nutr Diet. 2017 Feb;74(1):82-87. doi: 10.1111/1747-0080.12225. Epub 2015 Sep 28.
Children have the highest rates of food-related allergic reactions. While 85% of children outgrow allergies including cow's milk and eggs by five years of age, allergies to peanuts and seafood continue into adulthood. The school setting poses a high-risk environment for allergen exposure. The aim of the present study was to examine the availability, drivers and communication of school food allergy awareness and management policies/guidelines in one Australian education jurisdiction.
A cross-sectional study comprising an online survey of principals on school allergy awareness (n = 100) was conducted in public, catholic and independent primary and high schools in an Australian education jurisdiction between August 2011 and November 2012.
Sixty-three per cent (17/27) of schools responding to the survey reported using food allergy management guidelines. An average of 13 students per school were reported to have a food allergy with 93% of schools reported having students with at least one food allergy. Parents, not government policy, were identified as primary drivers of food allergy guideline implementation and a third of schools provided anaphylaxis training annually. Communication of food allergy management was limited with only 42 school websites either providing access to policies/guidelines or providing a food allergy statement.
Detailed awareness and management guidelines are integral for schools to adequately manage food-induced allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, in the school environment. To enable this, national government support through legislation and policy is needed to ensure a consistent, up-to-date and policed approach to food allergy management in the Australian education sector.
儿童发生与食物相关过敏反应的几率最高。虽然85%的儿童到5岁时会不再对包括牛奶和鸡蛋在内的食物过敏，但对花生和海鲜的过敏会持续到成年期。学校环境是接触过敏原的高风险环境。本研究的目的是调查澳大利亚一个教育辖区内学校食物过敏意识及管理政策/指南的可用性、推动因素及沟通情况。
2011年8月至2012年11月期间，在澳大利亚一个教育辖区的公立、天主教和独立的中小学开展了一项横断面研究，对校长进行关于学校过敏意识的在线调查（n = 100）。
参与调查的学校中有63%（17/27）报告使用了食物过敏管理指南。据报告，每所学校平均有13名学生患有食物过敏，93%的学校报告有学生至少对一种食物过敏。家长而非政府政策被确定为食物过敏指南实施的主要推动因素，三分之一的学校每年提供过敏反应培训。食物过敏管理的沟通有限，只有42个学校网站提供政策/指南或提供食物过敏声明。
详细的意识和管理指南对于学校在校园环境中充分管理食物引起的过敏反应（包括过敏反应）至关重要。为实现这一点，需要国家政府通过立法和政策提供支持，以确保澳大利亚教育部门对食物过敏管理采取一致、最新且受监管的方法。
