"Epidemic Hysteria": Are School Nut Allergies Policies Perpetuating the Problem?
That's the claim made by Nicholas Christakis in the current issue of BMJ. By responding to peanut and tree nut allergies with bans on unlabeled food, nut-free campuses, and requests that guests on school campuses wash their hands, Christakis claims, children who would otherwise be at lower risk for developing these allergies rarely get the chance to eat them and are therefore sensitized to them. Christakis also notes the potential for false positive allergy diagnoses among children whose families are extremely aware of nuts and peanuts:
Well intentioned efforts to reduce exposure to nuts actually fan the flames, since they signal to parents that nuts are a clear and present danger. This encourages more parents to worry, which fuels the epidemic. It also encourages more parents to have their children tested, thus detecting mild and meaningless "allergies" to nuts. And this encourages still more avoidance of nuts, leading to still more sensitisation. (emphasis added)
I've heard from parents whose schools run the gamut from extremely allergy-aware to, shall we say, less than accommodating. I'd certainly be interested to see exactly what percentage of schools have nut policies as strict as the ones Christakis describes. I've not seen any personally -- the schools I've spent any time in don't go much further than allergen-free tables and indicating potential allergens on the lunch menu -- but I am aware of some nut-free schools around the country, and I do know the phenomenon is becoming more common.
To me, the more interesting question is the idea that these policies could, in and of themselves, be triggering (or worsening) allergies by making nuts more foreign to kids without allergies. (Christakis notes, both in the BMJ article and in a BBC interview, that he isn't suggesting that people with food allergies not avoid their allergens.) Do you know parents of non-allergic kids who are unusually aware of allergies because of these policies? If nut-free campuses may indeed raise allergy risks for other kids, should they be rethought, or are they the most effective way to keep some kids with severe allergies safe at school?
Comments
Hi,
I think every student who have life-threatening allergies needs to have an epinephrine autoinjector in the school. The epinephrine autoinjector needs to be accessible for quick access within several minutes of a reaction and kept in a secure place.
Thanks,
Lucy.
I have mixed feelings about this issue. I do understand where Christakis’ coming from. Over reacting isn’t the way to go. But having a child with multiple SEVER food allergies, I strongly belive some level of policy needs to be in place. Especially because peanut allergy is one of the most sever and life threatning allergies. All kids whether they have allergy or not have a right to attend school SAFELY. If the non-allergic kids want to eat peanut butter sandwitch at home, they can still enjoy peanuts, just not at school. What’s wrong with that? I do also understand where schools are coming from. They don’t want their students to be sick or even die at school, but somethings I read are too extreme as Christakis said. I think we need to educate what’s safe and what’s not, and how to handle the situation. I am often surprised at how little people know about food allergies. I would like to take a look at the result of the research on early exposure to peanuts actually reduces risks though.
This story made http://detentionslip.org ! Check it out for all the crazy headlines from our schools.
I agree some people and some schools are over-reacting. I’ve also heard of some on the other extreme too. The thing about Christakis’ statements–as with so many things receiving equal media attention-is that a few people will take that information and try to apply it across the board.
The truth is that many schools have come to a middle ground of some kind, with an allergy cafeteria table or peanut table, for example. One of my children has a life-threatening allergy to peanuts and his classmates and their parents are very sensitive to that. I think a peanut table, where children who opt to bring peanut butter can sit, would be a good option. My non-allergic son no longer brings hummus because of the sesame oil because he wants to sit with his allergic friends a the allergy table. There is only space for one non-allergic friend each day. I think many children would prefer to sit and socialize together at lunch and are less concerned about what they are eating. Lunchtime is a really important time for the children to socialize. I don’t think we need to let PB interfere with it–the children don’t.
I’m 56. I’ve lived with the severe ALL-NUTS allergy my whole life. I find good and bad in the school no-nuts policies. Good is the simple raising of awareness. Bad is the naive delusion of security. I believe kids with the allergy should get closer to nuts, more intimate with them…kinda like “sleeping with the enemy”. They should learn how to recognize the tell-tale look, feel, the texture of nuts as they infiltrate all around us, in bakeries, in restaurants, in malls, at parties, street vendors, and so forth.
School protection is a false shielding from the 1,001 ways nuts can bring us done. And through close and curious contact–NOT AVOIDANCE–I can name those 1,0001 ambushes.
1,000’s of kids die from dumb auto accidents every year. A handful go down because of nuts. Let’s ban cars? No, of course not. Let’s learn safety.
My sits beside me eating Christmas nuts. Has done for 30 years. Big deal. I’m alive, enjoying her enjoyment.
Don’t freak out, find out.
bob
I am getting really annoyed by people who want to risk my sons life, boo hoo so you cant eat a peanut butter sarnie at school, unless you want to try and kill my son,,, peanuts can stay in your saliva for over 5 hours you eat nuts for your breakfast or use the same knife to make your jam sarnie as you did putting on your peanut butter then your child hugs or touches or kisses my son he would be dead in seconds so please dont tell me its safe to sit him in a corner while other people eat nuts