Difficulties in the School Life of Children with a Food Allergy from a Mother's Perspective: Word Cloud Analysis

Objective: This study was carried out to determine the difficulties experienced by the mothers of children with food allergies regarding their children's school life. Material and Methods: This qualitative study was performed by extensive screening of groups on Facebook that included mothers of children with food allergies. Facebook groups including mothers were searched by two independent researchers between January-February 2022 with the keywords "School" and "Kindergarten". Posts were analyzed for a modified thematic analysis using open and axial coding methods. Results: In the study, three main themes and seven sub-themes were determined. These were as follows: "Care burden for mothers" (Sub- themes: emotional burden, physical burden, and social burden), "School process" (Subthemes: cooperation with the school, conflict with the school administration and parents, the application of penepine and the demand for health personnel in the school) and "Advice on the management of the process". In the study, it was found that mothers experienced a burden of care, had some problems in the school process, and asked other mothers in the groups for advice on the management of the school process. Conclusion: To reduce the care burden of mothers of children with chronic health problems such as food allergies and to maintain a healthy school process, it is recommended that these children are followed closely by school nurses at schools and school health policies should be developed.