VIDEO: Tips for attending college with food allergies

Key takeaways:

• Managing the high school-to-college transition can be challenging for those with food allergies.
• Physicians can help patients to plan ahead and establish safe spaces.
• Peer support can ensure good quality of life.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Physicians should have open conversations with their teenage patients with atopic conditions about how to safely navigate college environments, Ruchi S. Gupta, MD, MPH, said during this Healio exclusive interview.

During a presentation at the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting, Gupta, professor of pediatrics and medicine and director of the Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, said it can be very difficult to avoid allergens in college, especially for those with food allergies, so it is important to have a plan in place before students arrive.

Specifically, Gupta recommended that college students with food allergies establish their dorm room as a safe space, and they should plan to meet with a college nutritionist or other staff so they know what is safe to eat at the dining hall.

It is also important that college students plan head for when they attend club meetings, activities and parties and perhaps bring their own food if they are not sure what is going to be served, Gupta said.

“A lot of the time the biggest thing we see is that you’re going to college and you want to fit in,” she told Healio. “These students aren’t interested in bringing attention to themselves and their allergies or their asthma or by pulling out their inhaler, or by showing their skin if they have eczema.”

Most importantly, allergists and pediatricians can encourage their patients to form a community and establish peer support from those who can advocate for them, which can be especially important for quality of life, Gupta said.