Food allergies affect one in every 13 children in the U.S. - that's about two in every classroom. As food allergies increase, so does food allergy bullying.
"We hear it all the time - families who are living with life-threatening allergies and I myself am a mother of a daughter who has a peanut allergy," said Tonya Winders.
Winders is a mom, a Nashville native and the President and CEO of the Allergy and Asthma Network.
"My daughter, Carson, is 12-years-old now and we've known she had peanut allergies and she was two," she said.
Winders said school children are often bullied by their classmates, athletic coaches, even other parents.
"And so when she was younger it was very subtle. Someone might call her the 'peanut girl' or something like that and she came home crying. But it also took on the forms of being isolated where sometimes it was adults who were actually forcing her to sit alone in the cafeteria without her friends around her," she said.
To combat this troubling trend, the Allergy and Asthma Network, in partnership with several major allergy advocacy groups, have teamed up to raise awareness.
The campaign is called "No Appetite for Bullying" and they're asking teens to share their stories.
Winders said she hopes by acknowledging the issue they can also put an end to it.
To learn more about "No Appetite for Bullying," how to apply for the Teen Coalition, and how to share your food allergy bullying story, click here.
