Food Allergies Increasing in Kids

Peanut Allergies Have Doubled, Resulting in Changes in Lunch Rooms, Daycare

A new report shows that food allergies in kids is on the rise, and now affects 1 in 26 children. The information is changing the way many school lunchrooms and daycare centers feed young kids.

The report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in October 2008 that 1 in 26 kids now has allergies, which is up from 1 in 29 kids in 1997. This translates to an 18 percent increase and means that 3 million children have some type of food allergy.

Nobody knows for certain what is driving the increase. A doubling in peanut allergies has many child caregivers and educators particularly alarmed. But kids also seem to be taking longer to outgrow milk and egg allergies than in past decades. Some experts theorize that parents and doctors today may be more likely to consider food as the trigger for symptoms like skin rashes, vomiting, breathing problems, and just feeling sick all the time. In the past, other problems may have first been considered or kids labeled as "just sickly."

Managing peanut allergies for kids in daycare or school is a continuous challenge for parents. Some schools and even more daycare and home care settings have initiated peanut bans at the school. While peanut butter and jelly sandwiches have long been a lunchroom staple, kids with peanut allergies may face very dangerous health problems by the contact. Schools are trying a number of creative approaches such as designated tables, only allowing kids to carry any peanut product in their lunch box in school on certain days when kids with allergies have an alternate activity, or banning peanut products all-together. That in itself is difficult to enforce in large elementary schools, while it is easier to control at family care settings. Most lunchrooms now simply don't serve peanut products, and if they do, they are labeled and carefully monitored.

Parents need to be vigilant in educating adults at any program or activity they participate in. Well-meaning people unintentionally may place kids with allergies at a great health risk by offering them a treat that contains ingredients they are allergic too. Kids with allergies should be taught to never accept snacks and hand-outs of any kind unless provided by a parent or an approved caregiver who knows the child's medical history.