to challenge the schools nuts ban

[pigglewiggle]

The school has a strict no nuts policy. Apparently this is because someone in a higher year has a peanut allergy. I can understand banning peanuts if the allergy is severe but peanuts are very different to normal proper nuts and reactions to these are not to my knowledge anywhere near as bad as peanuts. It just makes lunch quite difficult as we are vegan and would love to pop something like a nakd bar in lunchboxes.

Aibu to go to the school and at least establish if a total ban on nuts is needed / necessary?

Actually that might be toll hunting. Ignore me

There is a link to a few items of literature on possible reactions to airborne particles here: www.aaaai.org/ask-the-expert/peanut-air-travel.aspx

Note that, while reactions to airborne nut particles are described as rare, none of the studies discounts this as a possible source of the reaction in the subjects under scrutiny.

On the itv news now. Young children to eat peanuts to prevent peanut allergies developing.

stilllearnin, I'm not an expert but I think sesame allergy is very specific- people who are allergic to sesame are OK with other seeds. However, I suppose you'd have to be careful with someone who is ultra-sensitive in case they are processed together.

But difficulty making up a lunch box, vs a potentially life-threatening allergy - the two are not equal in severity, are they, pigglewiggle?

I am sure that building a healthily balanced vegan diet takes a lot of thought - and I am sure you could put that bit of thought into alternatives to nuts for your child's lunchbox.

As others have said - they can have nuts after school on the way home and for tea - and though I have heard of schools asking pupils to avoid products with nuts in for breakfast, you haven't said that your school has asked this, so maybe they could safely have nuts at breakfast too (though that is something I would ask the school to check with the child's parents first) - so enough opportunities in the day for him to eat nuts, surely?

I think people are being really harsh on the op, likely because she dared say she was vegan.

Allergy support groups do not support a blanket but ban because it encourages complacency. There are many other common allergens as well, and it would be impossible to ban them all.

A sensible approach would be to react to the individual needs of the pupils in the school with allergies to keep them safe.

On the itv news now. Young children to eat peanuts to prevent peanut allergies developing

As my daughter had her first reaction to peanut butter at 6 months I'm not sure that would have helped her...

Lertgush
If your interested it was the EAT study. They also looked at introducing these foods from 3 or 4 months.

The study in question is quite convincing. What's interesting is that they even gave peanut (under close supervision) to children whose skin prick tests showed that they were starting to develop an allergy. Almost all these children ended up being able to tolerate peanut.

Obviously it's not going to work for everyone - I grew up at a time when peanut was everywhere (one of my childhood memories is my mum eating a little bowl of peanuts every night) and I'm still allergic to the bloody things, though I must say the other recent studies about desensitization via progressive exposure to peanut protein make me quite tempted to have a (very careful) go at this myself.

It's so lovely that your children have made a lifestyle choice to limit their diets . You can't then moan that they have less choice in this case.

You have never had a child with severe allergies have you? We have a list of about 6 foods safe for us to eat.

you've got to be kidding me.

OP being vegan is completely beside the point.

Nut bans are not a good idea.
Exposure to alleregens as early in life as possible reduces allergies.

Those who advocate nut bans have still not told me whether they let their children go to supermarkets, shopping centres, cinemas, theatres, on trains, on buses

because if all of those are OK, then why the fuss about lunchtime 200 days a years

and if not, then school dinner times are the least of your child's problems.

should declare an interest here
I've been in a maternal and child health cohort study for 16 years and DS was part of the allergen subset - whenever essential findings pop out we get told.
exposing him to peanuts as early as I could in life was one of those findings.
as was the hygiene hypothesis

George du Toit is DD's allergist. I am but allergic and DD has other allergies. Although she wasn't in the EAT trial, we did early nut introduction, initially in his office, and then at home. She is fine with nuts.

I am NUT allergic. Bloody autocorrect.

Bruffin it was the leap study not the eat one. Very exciting that they've finally reported. We almost enrolled dd six years ago, but the guy running it told us his money was on early exposure being protective, so rather than risk being in the no consumption group, we just bought our own peanut snacks, and she's been eating the things ever since:)

Sorry LEAP.

Sorry your right zoe it is the LEAP. Isnt the EAT study due soon as well?

TalkinPeace
exposing him to peanuts as early as I could in life was one of those findings.

So what's the split between those who acquire allergies, and those who react on first exposure to an allergen? Presumably early exposure is only of benefit to the former group (unless you count allergy identification).

Those who advocate nut bans have still not told me whether they let their children go to supermarkets, shopping centres, cinemas, theatres, on trains, on buses

An eating area, used five times a week, with hundreds of (messy) children whose lunch might include nuts is presumably a greater risk than other public environments, which involve less eating. Parents/adults can separately risk assess public areas over which they might have little control, and take measures accordingly.

I think the EAT is also looking at sesame and other allergens.

No wonder allergies are rising as people blindly follow the current health advice without questioning it.

Unless an allergy is very serious and airborne there is no point in a ban in that item. Its just lazy scared schools.

Am I taking crazy pills, or do children still only eat one meal a day at school?

And do they not still attend school from the age of 4/5 - which is waaaay after the 'early exposure' that is being recommended in this study (4-11 months, and the authors of the study emphasize that the window for exposure is a narrow one, i.e. by school age it has passed).

So if the school bans a substance because one pupil may have a very severe allergic reaction, it shouldn't really affect the wider diet of children, or their exposure because they're getting two further meals at home which may include nuts and are past the sensitive period anyway?

Ergo, posters complaining about a ban are being unreasonable.

(I have nothing against the OP's veganism, being strict veggie/borderline vegan myself).

shovetheholly

it is reasonable to complain about the ban, because the expert ie anaphylaxis campaign etc advice is that there should be no ban!

I'll just add a link in to this thread here because there are so many allergy-affected people on here - please read the news link in the OP, it's very important.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/in_the_news/a2308339-Peanut-allergy-sufferers-need-to-read-this?msgid=52563199#52563199

But why? I am struggling to understand. Explain it to me!

I understand that you can't make an environment 100% safe for a child, but I don't see why that means that schools shouldn't at least try.

I am more than willing to be proven wrong about this, but as far as I can see (and I am by no means an expert), the problem with a blanket ban is parents being crazily selfish, saying 'I want my children to be able to eat anything anywhere, screw your child, the risk is low'. Which seems like the kind of attitude we would call brattish were it exhibited by a 5 year old.

I would argue that it's vital that people start to understand the wider implications of their food choices - personally, socially, environmentally - and that pandering to hysteric 'I need to be able to eat whatever I like, whenever I like' reactions isn't helpful.

bruffin
it is reasonable to complain about the ban, because the expert ie anaphylaxis campaign etc advice is that there should be no ban!

You quoted from the Anaphylaxis Campaign in a previous post:

Generally speaking the Anaphylaxis Campaign would not necessarily support ‘peanut bans’ in all schools.

Firstly, the Campaign quote is tentative and far from unequivocal ('Generally speaking'...'not necessarily support'). The advice is not, as you say, 'that there should be no ban'. Secondly, advice on nuts is subject to change over time (e.g. do/don't consume whilst pregnant). Not surprising, since there are still so many unknowns with regards to the cause of allergies and how they evolve over time.