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Is it normal to feel anxious as a parent of a child with food allergies?

Short answer

Yes. Some worry comes with managing a food allergy, and many parents feel it. When it starts to limit family life, it may be moderate or severe anxiety. BC Children's researchers measure it with a parent questionnaire called IMPAACT. Talk to your allergist or doctor.

Worry about a child's food allergy can be useful: it keeps you reading labels and packing epinephrine. It becomes a problem when it starts limiting the family's life or the child's independence.

IMPAACT, developed at the University of British Columbia and BC Children's Hospital, is a 28-question parent questionnaire covering worries, distress, avoidance, the child's coping and the need for support. At the CSACI meeting in October 2026, BC Children's researchers reported that most parents in their study, recruited from the clinic's Thriving Families Program, scored in the moderate-to-severe range, and that the point where a clinician judged anxiety moderate or severe came at a lower score than older norms suggested.

Support exists. The BC Children's Hospital Allergy Clinic's Thriving Families Program offers virtual sessions using CBT and DBT skills for families it sees. Elsewhere, start with your allergist or family doctor. More in food allergy anxiety in parents.

Sources

  1. IMPAACT: Impairment Measure for Parental Food Allergy-Associated Anxiety and Coping Tool, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute (2024)
  2. Poster: Clinical validation of the IMPAACT cut-off values for moderate/severe food allergy anxiety (Lee ZHY, Golding MA, Burns KD, Protudjer JLP, Soller L, Chan ES, Tong JY), 81st CSACI Annual Scientific Meeting, Toronto (2026)
  3. Thriving Families Program at BC Children's Hospital Allergy Clinic, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute (2026)

Fact-checked by Western Allergy Services Ltd., Canadian allergy company since 1972, on October 18, 2026. Last updated October 18, 2026. How we check our answers

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General information, not medical advice. Always follow the instructions that come with your medication and the advice of your pharmacist or doctor. In an emergency, call 911. Medical disclaimer