*3.1. Previous Experience in Food Allergy Management*

The majority of teachers and school staff had experience with food allergies, as reported in 10/12 (83.3%) studies. However, higher proportions of teachers and school staff reported caring for a child with a food allergy compared to the teachers and school staff who had received training to do so.

An estimated 20.0–88.0% of Turkish, Italian, English, and American teachers and school staff reported having students with food allergies [33,37,38,42]. One study reported that 44.7% of Italian teachers had 1–2 students with a food allergy in their teaching experience, 31.6% had 3–5 students, and 23.7% had >5 students [42]. On average, United Kingdom (UK) schools enrolled between 1–12 students with a food allergy per school [37]. One Turkish study reported only 53.2% of participating teachers knew which students had a food allergy [39]. Fewer teachers (3.0–9.0%) reported they had taught students with a history of anaphylaxis than a food allergy [38,40]. Among UK schools, 57.0% (*n* = 89/157) reported having students who had previously had severe allergic reactions [37].

Rates of prior food allergy education were variable. Among Italian, Turkish, and Spanish teachers and school staff, rates of food allergy training ranged from 14.0–63.6% [38,41–44], whereas 43.0–72.2% of Italian [42] and Spanish [41] teachers and school staff reported no previous food allergy training at all. The majority of Italian and Turkish teachers (71.7–82.3%) reported having first aid training, although the extent of food allergy training included (e.g., EAI administration) was unspecified [38,43,44]. In Washington state, USA, approximately half (51.1%; 1102/2156) of teachers reported previous food allergy training. Of these same teachers, 62 reported having administered an EAI, although not all (77.4%; 48/62) had prior EAI training [35].

The method of food allergy education delivery was reported in 40.0% (4/10) of studies. Italian, Turkish, and American teachers and various school staff received previous food allergy education primarily from first aid courses (71.7%) [34,43], health training (11.1%) [43], mass media (22.4–64.5%) [39,43], the internet (17.9–23.0%) [39,43], booklets (37.3%) [39], seminars (22.4%) [39], and less commonly, via acquaintances or relatives (1.4%) [43]. Other sources of food allergy information included sessions from in-service days and/or regional conferences [39], parents, and individuals with a food allergy [42].
