To be tired of so called food "intolerances" in children when the parent can't explain what symptoms the alleged intolerance produces?

[MrsSchadenfreude]

For the record, I am NOT talking about proper food allergies - coeliac disease, nut allergy etc. DD had some friends round for a sleepover the other week, and one mother said "oh X can't have anything dairy, she is intolerant to it." Fine, I cooked everything with soya milk and veg margarine. Another child was intolerant to wheat, so cakes were all gluten free as well. Gluten intolerant boy also had an intolerance to bananas. Apparently.

Asked parents what the symptoms were of these "intolerances" when children were collected. The wheat boy "bloated a bit after having bread once". Bananas? Apparently the doctor tested for banana intolerance and he was, although had never shown any signs. Dairy child "sometimes gets a tummy ache" if she has cheese. Has she had tests? Oh no. Parents self diagnosis.

Am I being unreasonable to think that this has all gone a bit far, and is used by mothers to show just how "precious" their little one is?

[Peachy]

Oh and the cooked uncooked thing- true. The dietician advises whenever we do a reintro to start with biscuts etc that ahve cooked milk in, and go from there.

[MeMySonAndI]

Upwind, if you really want more information about this, a good place to start is The Complete Guide to Food Allergy and Intolerance by Jonathan Brostoff and Linda Gamlin. I have found PubMed.gov quite useful, although you will need to have an account if you want to go beyond the abstracts.

There are plenty of publications in this subject by serious researchers. Obviously, you only bump with that information once that you need it

Edam, I agree that most intolerance tests are at best inaccurate and at worse irresponsible. Unfortunately, the fact that intolerances are difficult to diagnose doesn't mean they don't exist. although someway I think you will agree with that.

[susiecutie]

erm... very interesting reading this . clearly a subject which can be highly emotive as well as everthing else it brings...

I just HAVE to ask... what the heck is YANBU????? is it something vic reeves and bob mortimer say, or some other imprortant 4 letter acronym i need to be aware of when posting on this site

sorry to ask such a trivial thing in the midst of an important subject... even if the OP was being slightly tongue in cheek with said OP

[Blu]

Susie -it means 'You Are Not Being Unreasonable.

And if you see YABU it means you are

AIBU is 'Am I Being Unreasonable?'

[susiecutie]

Thank you very much Blu I was racking my brains trying to work it out for erm... quite a while! cheers petal!

[HairyToe]

Sorry to hijack slightly but this is a related question. I agree that in some cases there is over-diagnosis of food intolerances. I know people who have sent their kids to homeopaths to be 'tested' and come away with a massive list of foods they can't have - despite them presenting no symptoms at all .

Now despite not wanting to join any bandwagon I find DD2 (14 months old) has had really horrible nappies (big, liquid smelly poos) for a while now. Doctor has tested stool sample which showed no problem. Also she has really grumpy periods (sometimes days)crying, screaming, really clingy. Part of me keeps reasssuring myself that its is teeth/frustration/a phase but a small part of me keeps wondering if there is anything she is eating which is giving her a tummy ache/bad poo. Although she always sleeps well at night/naptimes so surely if she was unwell it would affect her sleep as well?
So should I be worried or have other people's DCs gone through this kind of thing and grown out of it. And what is the best way of identifying any 'intolerance' - food diaries? exclusion diets? She is only a baby so I'm nervous to restrict her diet too much

[MeMySonAndI]

At that age a food diary is your best bet. Too early to get a realistic result through testing.

However, rather than looking for an "intolerance culprit" I would try to check other things first, like if she is having too much fruit (ie. far too much fruit juices), if she had a tummy bug that she hasn't recovered well from, etc.

[UnquietDad]

But what if you have a diary intolerance?

Sorry sorry SORRY...
I tried really hard to resist that one, honest....

[Jackaroo]

I know this is almost over, and everyone has sorted it out, but I just want to add that the allergist(?) we saw at teh hospital said that whilst DS obviously had quite an intolerance to milk (runs, severe tummy pain etc.) it was possible that he could be OK with small amounts of hard cheese... which it turns out he is. He does sometimes eat processed cheese things, and gets a slightly upset stomach with that.. so I'm wondering if it has something to do with the amount of lactose (or whatever) in each product.

I keep reading that I should be able to each live yoghurt despite being dairy intolerant, but it's not true, it hurts just as much!!

Having said all that, I looked really stupid at nursery the other day because DS ate a bit of ordinary birthday cake when they weren't watching, and didn't projectile vomit etc. afterwards.. despite having a huge egg problem (that is an allergy)... I went away thinking "they think I'm one of those mothers that makes things up to make her son seem more precious"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[anneme]

~It has been quite comforting reading this thread. DS1 who is 4 has had a dairy/egg intolerance which led to eczema but seems to be improving - he seems to be able to tolerate egg that is cooked in things (eg cake!) and also small amounts of cheese but i would still not give him cows'milk to drink (we keep Alpro in business I think)or something made in a cheese sauce. I do feel fussy but I also don't feel I can restrict him too much.
Two questions - does anyone know whether allowing him to have smallish amounts of htings that he has reacted to in the past could cause his reactions to get worse? Also, are smelly fart often a sign of intolerance - he does a lot (along with ohter symptoms) and I would like to sort that out before he starts school and becomes known as FArty. Mind you - we are veggie which does not help!

[gogogojo]

In the olden days a food intolerance was just known as a certain food not agreeing with you. Done. Dusted. Get Over It.

[Peachy]

jackaroo- some people do seem to have a 'level' they can tolerate of a foodstuff, yes. I can have say a cup of tea a day with skim milk, but 2 or full fat milk and i'm off!

reintroduicing fodstuffs is often recommended by dieticians at intervals, BUT should be doneunder their guidance- especially with allergies. I wuld speak to yours, or get the GP to do a referral.

[VeniVidiVickiQV]

Oh the good old "olden days"

When typhoid was rife and tb was a real killer.......

MeMySonandI is spot on.

DD can have cheese and yoghurts. She struggles with plain old milk still. (This is an improvement of her all-out cows milk protein allergy). The processing methods of an allergen can reduce its ability to cause a reaction - either by breaking down the molecules to become a smaller size, or changing their structure altogether.

This is often why those with cows milk protein allergy can happily have goat or sheeps milk particuarly, because the milk proteins are much simpler/smaller and dont get "stuck" in the gut.

I think that it is fair enough for a parent to say - "actually - id rather you didnt give my child x/y/z to eat whilst he is there". Whatever the reason - be it lifestyle, culture, religion or health.

But that's probably because my ex-vegetarian status and DD's allergies.

[Pitchounette]

Message withdrawn

[PeachyFleshCrawlingWithBugs]

Did you know (and i've just found this- so for the famillies with intolerances / allergies)- that Butlins do offer dieatary meals on their half board option? I never would have expected that! (you just ahve to tell them on arrival)

Wacky Warehouse and Butlins- high class maybe not, but damned usuable of yes!

[Jackaroo]

I don't see the difference between something "not agreeing with you" and being intolerant of it... it's just whether you say "pull your socks up and eat what you're given" or "mmm.. maybe this discomfort/pain/ horrible symptoms can somehow be avoided".

I would love to know actually how many people make up such allergies. Even if they do I suspect it's just a manifestation of the heightened state of anxiety most parents seem to feel and therefore they are to be tolerated .

Ooh I'm getting back to my bleeding heart roots, I thought I'd lost them...

Peachy - chicken cottage I know, wacky warehouse??!!

[wildpatch]

to the op. i would never pander to such parents.
if they are going to be soo precious about their dc, then they can feed them themselves.
and i wouldnt bother having them over for tea, let alone a sleepover. god forbid, they might be intolerant to the sight of a banana! and get a littlebloaty feeling? what shoul i do then? call an ambulance?

[wildpatch]

yes, but pitch, would you turn up at someones house and demand to be fed according to your strict food regimen? because where i come from, making such demands is considered incredibly rude.
if someone is kind enough to offer you food or drink, you either accept graciously, or decline gracioulsy. you dont make a song and dance about how dare they offer me such things when they make me feel so uncomfortable etc

[wildpatch]

sorry, that came out much more aggressive than it was meant to. and not directed at you at all, but the parents who are soooo precious about their little darlings really get on my nerves

[Jackaroo]

But patch, if you invite someone over and they don't tell you what they have problems with, and then they don't eat what you've made them, isn't that rude of them? I'm being devils advocate, because I get t'd off having to cook for veg. and non veg. at th same sitting, but I suppose in this instance the OP was talking about children - which is a bit different altogether.........

I'll stop blathering......

[Jackaroo]

x-posts! I agree, even though, obviously, my child is a most most precious little angel, there's not fragile about him!

[wildpatch]

o, i agree it is rude of them. their is always something or the other that can be eaten, sipped etc so that we dont embarass our host.
yes the op is about the children. which is why i wouldnt invite them round, for fear of doing something that the parents would accuse me of neglect. its sad, because by being so precious, they are depriving their kids of various experiences. imo, obviously. they think they are being wonderful parents.

when i have had vegetarian kids over, i just cook vegetarian meal for everyone. it wont hurt themeat eaters to go one meal without meat.

[wildpatch]

[coffeepot]

YANBU - I have a family of coeliacs. It worries me that people who claiming an intolerance with no definite symptoms and no proper diagnosis create an environment in which real intolerances are not taken seriously...
see here for example

[tkband3]

Hairytoe, how is your DD's weight gain? And how long as she had these symptoms? Not wishing to worry you unnecesssarily, but her symptoms do sound very similar to those my DD1 suffered before being diagnosed with coeliac disease. She also slept very well, but extreme lethargy/tiredness is also a symptom. If you'd like more info (I don't want to hijack this thread too much!), feel free to email me tracy oneill at blue yonder dot co dot uk (leave out spaces etc) or CAT me.