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When Food Bites Back
Is It a Food Allergy?
By Laurie Dove
By the time a toddler reaches school age, food allergies have usually presented themselves. However, it can be important to remember that allergic reactions to foods served in a school setting are possible. According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI), about 25 percent of reactions in school-age children occurred at school, either in cafeterias, playgrounds or classrooms.
The Food Allergy Network in Fairfax, Va., estimates as many as 200 people die each year from food allergy-related reactions.Contrary to popular belief, toddlers are not at greatest risk. Teenagers, it seems, account for the majority of severe and often fatal, food allergy reactions.
The best treatment for food allergies, Jones says, is one of self-awareness and common sense.
"Avoidance of the food you are allergic to is the best prevention," Jones says. "Read food labels."
For other parents and grandparents a food intolerance can mean years of careful grocery shopping and food preparation. To ensure a lactose intolerant toddler still receives many of the nutrients contained in milk products, a diet rich in dark green, yellow and red vegetables, as well as tofu, fortified juices and meat, can do the trick.
For the Guhrs, having a lactose intolerant toddler meant learning to substitute water or apple juice in a pancake or cookie recipe that called for milk and experimenting with rice milk and other "lactose-free" items, before striking the right balance.
Want to see more?
- View an informational Webcast hosted by Joan Lunden and the AAAAI
- The Food Allergy Network
- Fatal Food: When Your Child Has a Peanut Allergy
- When Milk Doesn't Do a Body Good
- Food Allergies: Protecting Your Allergic Child at Daycare
- April Showers, May Flowers -- and Allergies
- Recipes Today Food Allergy Discussion Board
