Background: The number of elementary school children with food-related allergic diseases is increasing. This is a pressing issue as schools have been experiencing cases of accidental ingestion of food allergens and new onset cases. To resolve this issue, a food allergy education program specific to the developmental stages of children needs to be developed and implemented.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to test whether the food allergy education program for second graders developed by the authors improved knowledge of food allergies and knowledge related to the seven specific raw materials two months after taking the lesson.

Method: In 2019, Yogo teachers taught 45-minute sessions of the educational program on food allergies to second graders at A elementary school in S Prefecture and B and C elementary schools in K Prefecture. A self-administered questionnaire survey on “knowledge of food allergies” and “knowledge related to the seven specific raw materials” was administered before and two months after the lesson. The difference in changes in knowledge between the intervention and control groups was examined. Intervention and control groups were randomly assigned at A elementary school and non-randomly assigned between B and C elementary schools. There were 128 students in the intervention group and 106 students in the control group. The analysis was performed using a multilevel model.

Results: Although no differences were found between the intervention and control groups for knowledge of food allergies before the lesson, a large effect size of d=0.92 was observed after the lesson. The average score also increased by 2.06 points in the intervention group after the lesson. Similarly, there was no difference between the intervention and control groups in terms of knowledge related to the seven specific raw materials before the lesson. However, a moderate effect size of d=0.79 was observed after the lesson. The average score also increased by 1.09 points in the intervention group after the lesson.

Conclusion: The present results suggest that implementing the food allergy education program developed by the authors may be effective in enhancing knowledge.