There are a wide range of food allergies that people are exposed to, and the risk of an allergic outbreak at school has caused some great distress for some teens in high school. Researchers interviewed ten children between the ages of 8 and 12, and ten teenagers who suffered from serious food allergies. The research showed that teenagers were far more apprehensive and felt less confident about their surroundings in school.
This is in part due to lack of teachers knowing about food allergies, and unsupervised lunch areas where there is exposure to foods they may be allergic to. Contributing to the threat of an allergic breakout include uninformed friends, school personnel and parents of other students who may expose them to the allergic food unknowingly.