Feds post food allergy guidelines for schools

[alp227]

Source: AP

ATLANTA (AP) — The federal government is issuing its first guidelines to schools on how to protect children with food allergies.

The voluntary advice calls on schools to take such steps as restricting nuts, shellfish or other foods that can cause allergic reactions, and to make sure emergency allergy medicines like EpiPens are available.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted the guidelines on its website Wednesday.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/feds-post-food-allergy-guidelines-schools

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Voluntary Guidelines for Managing Food Allergies in Schools and Early Care and Education Programs

And of course, expect the "pro life" right wing media to go all, "MICHELLE OBAMA IS TAKING AWAY OUR PEANUTS!!!!" (never mind that food allergies KILL...but they'd rather picket Planned Parenthood than be considerate of kids with food allergies)

[ForgoTheConsequence]

1. No more shrimp pad thai for lunch?

The deadliest of combos.

[Igel]

3. For anybody.

Ever again.

Because that person you shake hands with after eating and not being decontaminated may sit on the bus next to somebody whose child has a peanut or shrimp allergy.

But seriously ... One problem is that childhood allergies fade. Or never existed because the allergist came back with a false positive. So the number of kids with a peanut allergy at a given time is probably quite overstated.

[antigone382]

8. Some fade more readily than others. And some don't fade at all.

Milk allergies go away commonly. Peanut allergies generally do not, although there has been some progress in slowly introducing children to tiny amounts of peanuts and gradually increasing the dose.

I don't know what the rate of false positives is, but generally the testing only occurs after there has been some kind of adverse reaction, so I can't see it being incredibly high. A verifiable statistic is that 200 children die each year because of allergic reactions to food, while 2,000 are hospitalized.

A parent of an allergic child knows the procedures to protect their child's safety when said parent has been out in the world, at risk of cross contamination. The same parent cannot see or control what happens when their child is at school; they are trusting their child's safety to someone else. And the option to simply pull their kids out of school for full protection is not realistic for parents many parents, who may not be able to give up their jobs, or who may legitimately feel that they would not do an adequate job educating their own children.

The way I see it, clear guidelines from one of our most reliable, evidence-based public health institutions is sensible, and goes hand in hand with the mission to provide for the health needs of all of us.

[grilled onions]

4. How Did We Survive As Kids?

There must have been kids with allergies yet we still had our lunch boxes with one of two choices--peanut butter or baloney on mustard. The schoolroom(no cafeteria in those days) reeked of the strong scent of peanut butter and the acrid scent of mustard coated baloney and either an orange or a banana ripened by the heat of a spring day or winter heat in the "cloakroom&quot long gone were the cloaks but the name stuck like peanut butter on the roof of your mouth). Those that had to brown bag it had to eat their's dry because you were not allowed to go out to the drinking fountain(which barely worked anyhow). Teachers did not observe if all kids were getting proper nutrition nor have a fit if a child actually had a cookie or cupcake.

[antigone382]

5. I don't know what it was like then, but 200 children die each year because of food allergies today.

2,000 are hospitalized. 30,000 experience some kind of reaction. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/777380_2

On another note, it may not have been a problem back in your day, but today 30% of children are overweight or obese. The number of obese children has doubled in the last thirty years. Largely because of this, the children of this generation are the first ever who are expected to have shorter lives than their parents. http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm

I love peanut butter, I love cake, and I ain't skinny. But a public health issue is a public health issue. I am glad that schools are getting more involved in protecting the health of students with allergy issues, and that schools are focusing more and more on teaching, modeling, and providing good nutrition and lifestyle choices.

On edit: here is a very informative but easy to follow powerpoint presentation that goes into the history of our attention to food allergies as a public health concern. It doesn't take long and is worth the read through if you would like to understand the topic better. https://www.ifst.org/documents/misc/d_reading.pdf

[grilled onions]

6. Thank You For The Links

Granted we did not have as many "additives" in foods decades ago plus all teh chemicals they have in meat and poisons they spray on crops. it's little wonder that today's students are paying the price in many ways including becoming food sensitive to many things.

[antigone382]

7. It does seem that allergy rates have increased dramatically in the last few years.

It also seems that severe reactions are closely linked to asthma. I don't know whether food additives would have an effect or not, but I do wonder if increasing rates of asthma due to poor air quality might be a factor. But then, I don't have solid evidence that asthma rates are increasing on the whole.

[Bigmack]

9. I'm one of those with a severe

allergic reaction to peanuts and tree nuts(anaphylaxis). My allergy was discovered 65+ years ago because the women in my mother's family were choco-holics, and would let baby me lick the inside of their candies - after which I would get VERY ill. I'm here to tell you that the BEST protection such a child can have is a mother like mine, who somehow ABSOLUTELY convinced me that I must NEVER eat peanuts and tree nuts. Once - when I was in first grade - she accidentally sent me to school with my dad's lunch sandwich - peanut butter. When she realized what she'd done, she called the school, but they refused to do anything. But when I opened my lunch in the lunchroom and smelled that sandwich, I KNEW I mustn't EVEN take ONE bite. She was a GOOD TEACHER, my mom. Ms Bigmack