According to new research food allergies among children are on the rise, but also increasing is the financial toll it takes on the families, USA Today reported.

The study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, said families were spending an average $4,185 per year for expenses related to food allergies, paying about $931 out of pocket. The study is also believed to be the first to add up costs for the approximate eight percent of U.S. children allergic to peanuts, dairy and other foods.

The study is a research analysis of 1,643 parents and estimates the total national cost of doctor visits, hospital trips, special food and even a parent missing work to be $25 billion per year.

"Kids with food allergies don't tend to have long hospital stays, but your expenses come in other ways," said lead author Ruchi Gupta, a pediatrician at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and a professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.

She said parents whose children have food allergies are often forced to shop at expensive stores that sell specialty items. While insurance agencies cover doctor visits and trips to the hospital and emergency room, they do not cover expenses on food to fit a child's specialized diet.

The biggest out-of-pocket expense was the special food, with 37 percent of the parents saying they had to buy it. On average, parents spent $756 per year on such food. Other out-of-pocket expenses include co-pays for medication and extra childcare.

The largest cost was the nine percent of parents who said they at one point or another had to change, leave their job or relocate due to their child's allergies.

In conclusion of their study, the authors said much more research and resources will be needed to lessen the financial burden on families nationwide.

"In summary, childhood food allergy in the United States places a considerable economic burden on families and society," the report read. "Given these findings, research to develop an effective food allergy treatment and cure is critically needed."