Abstract
Objective: As prevalence of food allergy (FA) is increasing, many FA children are taken care in childcare facilities. The aim of this study is to evaluate 10-year changes in food elimination policies in childcare facilities. Methods: An anonymous questionnaire was sent to all childcare facilities (n=401) in Toyama prefecture in March 2012. The results were compared with the data from the previously performed surveys. Results: Out of 282 facilities with complete data, 222 facilities provided elimination diets. Comparing data of the previous surveys, percentages of children receiving elimination diet were significantly increased (2001, 1.2%; 2006, 2.0%; 2012, 3.6%; p<0.001). Approximately half the facilities answered that they knew Allergy Guideline for Nursery, which was issued in March 2011. Percentage of the facilities answered that they knew how to use adrenaline auto-injector was significantly higher in the facilities where they understood the guideline compared to the facilities where they did not (31.0 vs 4.7%, p<0.05). However, 42.2% of the facilities insisted that any medical procedures could not be done by themselves. Conclusions: The number of FA children who were provided elimination diet in childcare facilities is increasing. The guideline should be implemented in more facilities.
