First Study of Its Kind Finds Children With Food Allergies Are Often Victims of Bullying

[KurtNYC]

ScienceDaily (Sep. 29, 2010) — In the first-ever study to assess the social impact of food allergies in children, Mount Sinai researchers have found that approximately 35 percent of children with food allergies, who are over the age of five, were reported to have experienced bullying, teasing, or harassment as a result of their allergies.
...
"We know that food allergy in children affects quality of life and causes issues like anxiety, depression, and stress for them and their parents," said Dr. Sicherer. "However, our study is the first to explore teasing, harassment and bullying behaviors aimed at these children. The results are disturbing, as they show that children not only have to struggle with managing their food allergies, but also commonly bear harassment from their peers."

More than 43 percent were reported to have had the allergen waved in their face and 64 percent were reported as having experienced verbal teasing. No allergic reactions resulted from the bullying, but approximately 65 percent reported resulting feelings of depression and embarrassment. ...perpetrators include not only other children, but adults as well.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100928032616.htm

I have to think children and some adults must have a pretty miserable homelife if they go out of their way to harass kids with food allergies. It seems lately like bullying is a kind of disease where one miserable person takes out their misery on another. And, as we know, bullies are often victims of bullying. Even on DU the ROFL emoticon and the sarcasm icon give an inarticulate way for us to bully each other. (In a side note: I think there should be a filter available that will let you block all postings that have a sarcasm icon in them. Sarcasm is not discussion or debate. It aggressively and usually rudely mocks the poster it is replying to WITHOUT advancing any counter argument. It tells only what the poster using it disagrees with; not what they DO agree with -- that IMHO means it is 10% information and 90% mockery or bullying).

Food allergies are not well understood or agreed upon even at the level of medical journals, a study published in JAMA reported. Some of the most common tests for food allergies are dangerous to administer since they involve feeding the patient things they have reacted to. This risks anaphylaxis, which is dangerous even when induced in a controlled setting like a doctor's office. Treatments are poorly studied including those that appear to be effective such as habituation. Further confusing the issue is the fact that allergic reaction vary in their severity over time. Some are seasonal, some are more severe when the immune system is stressed and still others may develop or ease with age and hormonal changes.

Also:
No Clear Criteria for Diagnosing Food Allergies, Researchers Find
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100511173706.htm

[Cronus Protagonist]

1. I mentioned to a 46 year old woman that I was allergic to the stuff she was putting on her sandwich

Her instant reaction was to wave a knife full of the stuff right under my nose, and stick her tongue out into my face with the offensive food smeared all over it. Since that happened, I no longer wonder why kids do that too. She thought it was "funny".

[KurtNYC]

2. They say growing older is no guarantee of growing up.

Bullying is almost always a "prank" (Ravi) or "funny" (sarcasm) in the excuses of those who do it.