Allergy and school: nothing to be sneezed at!: A primary school project in Bielefeld, Germany, on epidemiology and health promotion in allergic diseases

BACKGROUND: Allergic diseases account for the largest proportion of chronic diseases in childhood and adolescence and place a significant burden on everyday family, social, and in particular school life. Without appropriate education, affected individuals often have little of the knowledge required to understand and deal safely with their allergic disease, and their social environment (school) generally offers insufficient information. An interdisciplinary project involving the Bielefeld Community Foundation (“Bielefelder Bürgerstiftung”), the Children’s Center Bethel, and the local school authority investigated the current knowledge, possibilities for increasing that knowledge, as well as pupils’ and teachers’ perception of the problems experienced by fellow pupils, while at the same time collecting current prevalence figures on allergic diseases among primary school children. METHODS: All Bielefeld primary schools were invited to participate in the 3 years between 2008 and 2010. A teaching session on allergic diseases held by specialists from the pediatric hospital formed the core of the project. A standardized survey of children – which also addressed non-affected children for the first time in Germany – on the effects of, their knowledge of, and their attitudes toward allergic diseases, as well as an assessment of their quality of life (cross-sectional study), was conducted prior to and following each session. Parents were also surveyed. RESULTS: In all, 24 schools per year, each with around 60 classes and 1,250 pupils aged 9 years, took part between 2008 and 2010. Approximately 30 % reported suffering from an allergic disease themselves, of which – with regard to single entries – 16 % were “allergies,” 4 % “asthma,” and 5 % atopic dermatitis. Figures collected from parents were only slightly lower than those from their children. Clear deficits that existed in terms of factual knowledge and/or correct conduct in allergic disease – among affected children as well as in their social environment – prior to the education program were noticeably improved by the teaching session. DISCUSSION: The prevalence data gathered here confirm the high numbers recently found in the KiGGS study. Thus, allergic diseases represent a considerable disease risk and potential burden in school children. Providing affected children and their social environment (teachers, fellow pupils) with specialist education can bring about considerable improvements in everyday school life.