The federal government takes action in our education system in many ways. One form that has recently hit the school systems is in the topic of nutrition. Along with the stricter guidelines that are being placed on the healthy foods that must be served in our school cafeterias, the federal government is also taking a closer look into the foods that are most likely to be allergy problems for children.
While many individual schools have their own plans in place for dealing with children who have food allergies, only a few states actually have a state wide plan. Those states include Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Tennessee.
In April, The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act was passed in the House and is still awaiting the Senate. The Act will help give the states guidelines on how to handle and manage food allergies in their school systems.
Research shows that the average number of children under the age of five years old who suffer from peanut allergies has doubled over the past ten years. About 12 million Americans have some type of food allergy. There are eight foods that are well known for allergies. Those are peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, soy, and wheat.
Each year these food allergies contribute to around 150 deaths, 30,000 emergency room visits, and 2,000 overnight stays in the hospital.
While most school information sheets ask parents to list any allergies that their child may have, many schools are not prepared for the extreme cases that may enter the building. For example, one girl from Charleston suffers so severely from peanut allergies that she takes four medications each day and carries two self-injectable pens with her. Just sitting across from a child eating peanut butter can be enough to send her into shock. During one school year she suffered from 20 reactions that ended in emergency room treatment or breathing treatments.
I think that most teachers and cafeteria workers are informed about not directly serving these foods to the children with allergies, however there is less care given when preparing food for other children. For some just a trace of the item can be deadly.