Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
Changes in food spending among food allergic families following the COVID-19 pandemic
Section snippets
Rationale
Efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19 have disrupted food supply chains and shifted consumption patterns leading to increased food prices and shortages of some products. It is hypothesized that these changes may disproportionately affect food allergic families given their restricted diet.
Methods
Between 1 May and 30 June 2020, 205 families completed an online questionnaire that assessed food spending before and after the outbreak of COVID-19. Of these families, 171 had at least one member with a physician-diagnosed food allergy, while 34 families reported no food allergic members. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess changes in food spending among food allergic and non-food allergic families. Pandemic duration and the prevalence of COVID-19 in each participant’s province
Results
Relative to families without a food allergic member, food allergic families were 2.37 times more likely to report increased spending on food following the outbreak of COVID-19 (95%CI=1.08, 5.21, p=.03). An analysis of these families revealed that monthly spending on food increased by an average of 23% (e.g., $191.28 CAD, SD=31.13) following the pandemic. Moreover, results indicated that among food allergic families, increased spending on food was associated with a lack of food availability
Conclusions
Results from the current study suggest that food allergic families are particularly affected by changes in the price and availability of food that have followed the COVID-19 pandemic. Policy makers should consider this increased burden when developing policies aimed at lessening the financial impact of COVID-19 on families.