Not allowed nuts in school

[pingu2209]

A friend of mine is really concerned about a letter home from school and subsequent conversation. Her dd is very fussy and will only eat peanut butter sandwiches. It is a long battle for her and the doctor is very concerned about her weight as she eats very very little. Has to be white bread, no crusts etc. I would go as far as to say it is an eating disorder - she is 9.

Her eating has to be tackled and the mum is getting help. So far the specialist help has said that it is a good idea for her to eat peanut sandwiches as this is pretty much all she will eat and will give her nutriants etc. They said the key is to increase the types of food, rather than take away what little she does.

But the school has said nobody is allowed any nuts, inc. peanut butter sarnies, in school as there are a handful of children with severe nut allergies - that could kill them.

My friend is at a loss. She asked whether her daughter could eat her sarnies away from the allergic children. The school has still said no, just incase there is peanut butter on her fingers etc that the allergic children could accidentally get it on them.

Who is being unreasonable?

RustyBear, ooh that is a very woolly statement.
Saying peanut ban is silly in itself.
I can only go by my son, and some of the others on the thread I linked to, but my son is allergic to all nuts as far as I know.
He has had anayphactic shock to 3 different ones so far.

And I agree with what they are saying generally speaking its not needed. In some cases it is and if that is the case here then the life of a pupil has to come first, it is hard as the OPs friends daughter obviously struggles but the priority has to be keep a pupil alive surely?

Stanley, we have to look at all labels.
Some breads may well contain nuts.

traces of nuts and cannot guarantee nut free are 2 different things.

So that is my point, amillion. If so many foods contain nuts, often without being obvious, then surely the school can never guarantee to be nut free anyway. You would have to ban loads of food, or expect every parent to check every label on the food they give. How can that be managed? Surely peanut butter is just the tip of the iceberg.

DS would go into anaphalactic (sp?) shock if he ate kiwi fruit (and some nuts, though, weirdly not peanuts). I don't expect the school to ban kiwi fruit.

I'm finding it really disappointing to see how little is understood, or even accepted, about food phobia and food anxiety. It really can be very damaging, and although not immediately life threatening, it can be in the long term, and it is very very debilitating.

People who suffer with it need and deserve all the support they can get. It is horrible.

I appreciate that allergies can be extremely severe, but in a school environment every child deserves equal consideration to their needs. The school will just have to be more inventive about how they handle the situation.

Hi. The letter from school says all nuts and gives examples of hazlenuts, peanuts and walnuts; basically all nuts.

I know 1 child who is ubber sensitive to nuts and eggs. Eggs are not banned though.

He is in year 6 and was invited to my eldest son's birthday party a few years ago. The mum spoke to me before hand and said that he really wanted to come but could I ensure that no nuts were served in any way at the party and she would provide her son with a food box and he wasn't to eat anything at the party other than what was in the box.

He is very severe.

However, in September he will be going to secondary school and there is no way you can control what the children bring into school. They are forever buying sweets and chocolates and cakes at the local shop and bringing it in. I must see a couple of Snickers wrappers a week.

My daughter has a severe nut allergy, it scares the hell out if me, a boy at her school just died of a reaction to nuts :(

Just out of interest, what the heck is going to happen to a kid who is so allergic that even being breathed on by the odour of nuts is a threat? You can hardly go into a workplace and insist that all staff can't eat nuts ever. You can't ensure a delivery guy who might be dropping something hasn't had nuts.

Of course, it's genuine, I don't mean to suggest otherwise, but the mind just boggles about how someone with an allergy so severe will get through life.

I do think it ought to be possible for the school to provide a completely separate area for eating and ensure hand washing etc at lunchtimes. I suspect most don't find out just how serious the allergy for each individual child is.

Is nut allergy more widespread than it used to be and if so, why? You never heard about it 30 years ago but it can't just have suddenly appeared can it? Did we just never hear about it or is there a real definite reason for the seeming increase?

Prima in answer to your question, it's about minimizing the risk for severely allergic kids. Of course it can't be eliminated completely.

What happens here (Ontario, Canada) is that all nuts are banned from schools and all parents are encouraged to wash their children's hands/faces before going to school if they've had nuts at breakfast (which most parents do anyway). Also, all parents and older children have to read and sign a letter from Anaphylaxis Canada that says that they've read and understand that they cannot send nut products to school and that they understand how dangerous those things can be for nut-allergic kids. We also get a testimonial letter from a family with kids that have allergies that outlines the issues and thanks parents for their cooperation etc. There are signs at every entrance re: not bringing nut products into school, pictures of all allergic kids (nut, dairy, egg, bees etc) in every classroom and teachers are trained to use epi-pens and I believe that kids with allergies have to keep epi-pens on their person and a spare in the main office. Kids all have to wash hands after eating and tables are wiped down too. It's taken pretty seriously but it's been accepted by all and while it doesn't guarantee safety for severely allergic kids, I think it goes a long way to minimizing the risk and giving the families of those kids some peace of mind. I'm not sure how it works in secondary schools but I think there are similar procedures in place there too.

VoiceofUnreason, those children and adults have to have medication with them at all times. If they follow that very simple step, and use it if necessary, they are very unlikely to die.

That's one reason why solutions can and should be found to OPs friends problem.

Stanley and Pingu
You are right. No school can guarantee being nut free. They can only minimise it. I suspect they may be wary of bring sued, I dont know.

Pingu, I think the point is, is that at Scondary the boy will be at least 1 year older also.
And, unless they are special needs, yes more responsibility then falls to the pupil themselves to monitor it all very closely indeed.
And as was discussed on the link, that is indeed when there is more danger. Apparantly more teenagers and young adults die of nut induced analyphlactic shock than do younger children.

YellowShoes, how old is your DD.
Have you had adequate information from the GP?

Meg I think that's because it's much easier for kiwi to be spotted and avoided if you're allergic. Nuts are not as easy to spot and are in lots of baked goods, which I think is why they are more likely to be outright banned?

My best friend at Uni was severely allergic to so many things. She was allergic to nuts, bananas, eggs, dairy etc. She was allergic to the powder that stopped washing up gloves sticking internally and to the powder sometimes put in balloons for the same reason.

She always had an epi pen with her, always. She could administer it herself but we would always need to phone the ambulance for her. She was beautiful. One anaphalactic shock she went into from blowing balloons up, her face ballooned, lips first. Then her whole body. Her 'favourite' jeans had to be cut off her by the ambulance people.

She is alive and well today with 3 children. Although I guess there are certain foods that are not allowed in her house.

Voiceodreason, i said above aurborne nutallergy is a myth.
Fwiw dh was allergic to nuts 30years ago

WifeofPie - I have an allergy to cheese that is so severe I'm violently ill if I smell it and if I'm close enough to the source of the smell/close enough to an open piece of cheese I need to use my epi pen and be observed in hospital to ensure the reaction is under control. Do you really think it would have been reasonable to ban pizza/lasagna/cheese sandwiches/ in a school?

Banning isn't the right way to go imo, allergy management is. I ended up in hospital because people around me got sloppy, bans breed a lack of awareness.

bruffin I haven't seen another post by you on this thread? I have seen you post on the other but allergy thread in aibu.

Fwiw my do works in a children's home, one of the children is anaphylactic to peanuts, they have not banned them but are following procedures and advice given to them by the allergy foundation and anaphylaxis campaign to minimize risk and they are all trained to deal with an alkwergic reaction etc.

VoiceofUnreason, your last paragraph.
That caught us out too. My son was diagnosed with nut allergy 15 years ago. And me and DH were only then hearing about it. We certainly didnt know anybody else with it.
He had an anyphlactic shock, but I didnt recognise it as being one. He ate a pick and mix, all very unlabelled, and kept saying "I cant breathe I cant breathe" and clutching his throat. I just sat there with him till it was over!
I did wonder if it was nut allergy, but didnt think too much of it, as I was pretty sure he had had nuts before.
Then 2 months later, he had another anyphlactic shock. I wont say the circumstances as dont want to out myself. This time it was definitie he had eaten 1 nut. So it was only at that point a few days late that I took him to the doctors!

We have often wondered why suddenly all nuts to him are dangerous. And quite frankly we have no idea why.

Or why indeed, it is now so prevalent. Back in his day, he and his brother were the only ones in primary or secondary for about 5 years.

However, going back to the original issue, my friend's daughter has some serious food problems and they are getting worse not better. It doesn't seem to be linked to body image, yet. However, she is freaky about what she eats. She gets into a mind set that she will only eat less than a handful of different foods and only at certain times, certain amounts, I think even certain plates etc.

The school don't see this as high priority as the nut allergy children. The head master has been very firm with my friend regarding the peanut butter sandwiches.

I suffered with eating disorders in my 20s and I wouldn't want my worst enemy to have to deal with any form of eating disorder - or disordered eating.

I find it very poor that the school do not perceive my friend's daughter's health (mental) problems as important as a hyper allergic child.

The school is being unreasonable

Nut bans are ridiculous and unenforceable and put dcs like mine at risk. The only place the airborne allergy is a real risk is in processing plants where dust clouds are created and planes due to the cabin pressure and air recirculation.

The school has to find a way to include both children. As has been pointed out many times on MN and this thread the Anaphylaxis Campaign generally do not support nut bans so on the assumption that the nut ban isn't necessarily required they should be working out how to let both children eat safely. If the PB child is going to bringing those in every day then they need to ensure she probably sits away from the allergic child and is then taken to wash hands and face immediately after eating so as to minimise traces. It is the traces of clingy peanuts which are the real problem, especially with primary school aged children, a bit of PB on the fingers goes onto a paintbrush, from there onto the fingers of the allergic child who then puts their hand over their mouth to cough...

It's difficult though because although people are sometimes very quick to assume it's the parents of the allergic children demanding the nut bans, I suspect it's often as much to remove a layer of difficulty from the staff too. If the PB child is going to have their sandwiches then the teachers will have to be responsible for doing their best to ensure the traces are dealt with, not the parents of the allergic child.

andro its interesting ntonhear the opinion of someone who has a severe allergy. :)

Like you say a bash brings a false sense of security.

Apologies that was another thread

Op the anaphylaxis campaign do recommend nut bans. Cant link at moment but get your friend to print off their advice to schools.

bruffin. That is interesting. Did you read that somewhere?