Time to pay attention to your child’s school’s food restrictions
Posted September 6, 2015 9:30 pm.
Last Updated September 6, 2015 9:33 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Parents with kids entering the school system for the first time may be scratching their heads over school policies which prevent certain foods from being brought in for lunch or snack.
The restrictions are meant to protect the lives of kids who can have life-threatening reactions to that food.
An allergic child doesn’t necessarily have to digest the offending food to get sick. A reaction could come from inhaling particles, or touching contaminated surfaces in the classroom.
Elaine Wardley with the Metro Vancouver Anaphylaxis Group says not only do those kids have to be constantly on guard, they deal with guilt as well.
“It’s hard because children with food allergies don’t want to be the reason for the classroom not to have a party or not to have a party with certain treats in it, either. They don’t want to be the cause of having a ‘no-fun’ rule in their classroom.”
But she says these are great occasions to demonstrate to non-allergic kids how to be understanding towards others.
“Parents who don’t deal with it might not understand the condition. There’s a lot of ‘Oh, a little bit won’t hurt them’ or ‘It’s because you did this to make them allergic.’ They put blame on the child or the family.”
She says because some parents fear the potential backlash for asking for a food-related policy at the school, they decide to deal with the food allergy on their own.
For parents with kids entering a new school or for children entering school for the very first time, Wardley recommends talking with the teacher, the principal and the school nurse.