Ep. 159: Food Allergy Anxiety in Teens: Risk-Taking, Social Pressure, and How to Help
Part of the series: Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Innovations Podcast
This podcast was made in partnership with Allergy & Asthma Network.
We thank Genentech and Kaléo for sponsoring this episode. While they support the show, all opinions are our own, and sponsorship doesn’t influence our content or editorial decisions. Any mention of brands is for informational purposes and not an endorsement.
If you have a teenager with food allergies, you have probably noticed that the careful little kid who always asked about ingredients is not always who shows up at 16. Teenagers are wired for independence, and food allergy management often gets caught in the crossfire. The result can look like risk-taking, avoidance, or just a teen who seems exhausted by the whole thing.
Kortney and Dr. Payel Gupta are joined by Tamara Hubbard, MA, LCPC, a licensed clinical professional counselor and food-allergy parent. Together, they dig into what food allergy anxiety actually looks like in teenagers, why some teens take more risks as they get older, and what parents can do to support their teen without making things worse.
What we cover in our episode about food allergy anxiety in teens
What makes teenagers a high-risk group for food allergy reactions. Independence is increasing at the exact same time parental oversight is decreasing, and that combination creates real safety concerns.
What food allergy risk-taking actually looks like. It is not always what parents expect, and some of it is just teens figuring out how to belong.
Food allergy social anxiety is its own distinct experience. The fear of looking different, being a burden, or standing out can drive behavior just as much as the fear of a reaction.
Why parental anxiety matters more than most parents realize. The way parents talk about food allergies often directly affects how teens handle them.
How to build confidence and ownership in your teen. What to do when a teen is either too anxious or not anxious enough.
About our Guest
Tamara Hubbard, MA, LCPC, is a licensed clinical professional counselor based in Illinois who specializes in food allergy counseling and therapy for women and mothers navigating anxiety and life transitions. An allied health professional member of both the AAAAI and ACAAI, Tamara is widely recognized as a thought leader in food allergy mental health. She is the author of May Contain Anxiety, published by Johns Hopkins University Press in 2025, and the founder of the first food allergy-informed therapist directory at FoodAllergyCounseling.org.
Tamara Hubbard, LCPC: The Food Allergy Counselor
Food allergy-informed therapist directory
More resources about food allergies
Managing and treating food allergies
Food allergy‐related social anxiety: Novel conceptualization of an important but overlooked construct
More episodes on managing food allergies in teenagers
Timestamps
Our episode about how to recognize and address anxiety in food allergy teens
01:35 Why teens with food allergies are a higher risk group
04:04 What risk-taking behavior looks like
08:20 How to tell if your teen's anxiety is related to their food allergy
11:24 The difference between stress, worry, and anxiety
12:41 How parental and teen anxiety affect each other
16:33 When your teen is exhausted by their food allergy
20:45 How much to involve your teen in allergy-related plans
25:05 Grief and sadness in food allergy parenting
26:11 Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for food allergy anxiety
35:09 What to do when your teen is dismissive of their food allergy
37:55 Signs your teen is not coping well
41:20 The importance of open-ended questions
