Food Allergies and School

Filed in archive Food Allergies , Living with Allergies on August 7, 2007

My son started in his new kindergarten last week. When we registered him, we were asked to fill up a form which included questions about diet restrictions and medical issues. The fact that they asked shows that they were used to dealing with food allergies and when I got to talk to my son's teacher, I learned that there's another boy in his class who has the same food allergies: peanuts and shellfish. The teacher knew the protocol. She understood the risks involved and is familiar with the use of the Epi-Pen, although she said she never had to use it so far. We are so thankful we had it easy. It's an issue thousands other kids going back-to-school have to face, too, and it's not that easy to find a school willing to accommodate dietary restrictions.

It's not easy to find a peanut-free childcare center (at least not in my part of the sky. Lucky are those in St. Louis,as Allergy Mom pointed out). In fact, I don't even push for schools to go peanut-free. But some safety measures and a little consideration from the school staff, students and other parents (like the ones David encountered during a ballgame), already go a long way in reducing our anxieties.