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A Strategy for Food Allergy Kids to Deal with School |
 For parents of food allergy kids, the first challenge is to make the kinds of changes to food preparation at home, so that your child does not have to endure those unpleasant and possibly dangerous allergic reactions from his or her daily diet. But when it is time to send food allergy kids to school, the challenge becomes more difficult. You don’t have control over what is given to your child at school. So it is important to put together a strategy for how to help your food allergy kids deal with school so you can have peace of mind that this tricky health problem won't sabotage your kiddo's educational experience.
Schools are quite aware of the need to be alert to the problems that food allergy kids have when they attend classes at a public institution. A conservative estimate by The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network puts the number of food allergy kids in any school population at a conservative 8%. So schools want to help all they can to keep food allergy kids from experiencing allergic reactions to the food they eat at school.
For school administrators to prepare to care for food allergy kids, the first step is to assure that everyone who will have interaction with the children in the school are educated in how to recognize the symptoms of an allergic reaction. Those symptoms will range from rashes that are similar to hives to swelling of the tongue, throat or lips to breathing problems to digestive problems like throwing up or diarrhea. While some of these symptoms may be the result of the onset of a flu or some other illness, it is always smart to suspect the worst when food allergy kids begin to experience a reaction.
Fast action, education and communication are crucial in any school system to be prepared to respond to a sudden problem that food allergy kids might have at school. Of course, administrators of the school must work with dieticians who plan school lunches and snacks to assure that the major allergens that can affect school allergy kids are never a part of any meal plan served to a large population of children.
But even if the menus of every meal served are clear of the major allergens, school administrators, teachers and helpers at school must be constantly alert for problems school allergy kids might have. There are two reasons for that extra concern. First, you really cannot control completely what children might eat during the day. If a child brings some food to school and shares it with others, that innocent act of sharing could put food allergy kids at risk.
Secondly, despite an effort to keep major allergens out of the diets of all of the children, there are so many allergens that food allergy kids could be suspect able to, it is impossible to completely quarantine the children from every potential food allergy problem kids might have.
Parents should partner with schools to make sure that their own food allergy kids are protected. As a parent, talking to every responsible individual about your kid's particular food allergy is a must. This is especially true if the allergen that troubles your child is not one of the common allergens most people are aware of. And if your food allergy kids could be vulnerable to a severe, life threatening allergic reaction of foods, everything you can do to alert the school of that potential problem is essential.
Along with strong communication and partnership between parents and school administration, being prepared to respond if food allergy kids have a reaction is the final step for total preparation. In the case of food allergy kids who may experience a severe reaction to foods, that means making sure the child has an Epi Pen ready to use and educating school staff on how to use it to save a child's life in the case of a severe reaction that food allergy kids might experience at school.
Drills should be conducted so that everyone who must know their role in administering care for food allergy kids are ready at all times. Then when everything else has been done, make sure parents, school administration and teachers let the children know about the potential of a health problem that food allergy kids might have during the school day. This means assuring food allergy kids that they should let their caregivers know immediately if they begin to experience allergic reaction problems.
And it means talking to all of the children about the problems food allergy kids have so that children can look out for each other's well being as well. If these steps are all taken faithfully, the entire school community working with parents of food allergy kids will be able to work as a team to assure that all of the children at the school have a happy and productive school day each time mom or dad drops them off at school.
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