Strategies for Children with Food Allergies

Caring for a child with food allergies is arduous for parents; from label reading, cross contamination, to stress of family and friends who are not understanding, and the stress of when the allergen is ingested. The immediate response is the most important, but parents and children of food allergic families generally also deal with emotional issues. Although it may seem like a big task, all caregivers, teachers, and health professionals should know how to take care of children with food allergies, watch for signs of anaphylaxis, and know how to treat it for the safety of all children with food allergies.

Parents have to read labels, talk with other allergy parents, as well as call food companies to know what is or is not safe for their child to consume. Cross contamination is when small food particles are left behind from either not cleaning, or mixing lines of food mainly for factories. It causes just as much problems, since usually it is unsuspecting and catches the parents and child off guard. Sadly, state laws are all different for these labels from food companies and the government only forces companies to state ingredients, not necessarily possible contamination of nuts.

To help protect such people from inadvertent exposure to nuts, labels on packaged foods often voluntarily state whether they were prepared in a facility that also processes nuts. Some cities have nut-free bakeries that now sell products safe for allergic children, who can bring their own special, albeit expensive, cake or cupcake to a party. While experts doubt the necessity of some extreme measures taken to prevent indirect exposure to peanuts, the danger to someone with a peanut allergy who eats them is unquestioned. (Brody 4-6 par.)

Emotions generally...

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