Children's Food Allergies Cost Estimated $25 Billion

A recent study looks at the amount of money that food allergies may be costing families each year. Statistics show that in the United States alone, an estimated $25 billion a year results in medical fees, lost productivity and family expenses because of this particular health problem.

In the United States, it's estimated that food allergies affect around 8 percent of children, along with significant costs from the health-care system resulting in extra expenses needed from families for special diets and allergen-free foods that can result from an allergy.

The researchers surveyed more than 1,600 caregivers of a child with a food allergy. The most common allergies ranged from peanut at about 29 percent, milk at 22 percent and shellfish at 19 percent. The annual food-allergy-related costs were nearly $4,200 per child, which works out to be $24.8 billion a year nationwide. This national estimate includes $4.3 billion in direct medical costs and $20.5 billion in costs to families, according to a journal news release.

Hospitalizations also account for a large amount of direct medical costs, rounding close to $1.9 billion according to the study. Costs for outpatient visits also reached close to $819 million, including emergency-room visits that were $764 million and pediatrician visits close to $543 million.

The study also estimates that special diets and allergen-free foods can cost a family close to $1.7 billion a year. The cost of lost work productivity usually occurs when caregivers take their children to medical visits, which may be close to $773 million a year.

More information regarding the study can be found via the journal JAMA Pediatrics.