Peanut allergy and school

[bevelino]

In today's Sunday Times Review Section Caroline Coles has written to Chris Woodhead to ask whether he thinks a school has the right to ask parents to avoid putting items containing nuts in lunch boxes because one child at the school has a severe nut allergy. Caroline Coles is unhappy with the school. Chris Woodhead replied that the school's decision is nonsensical and that the rights of more than 200 children to eat the lunch their parents want them to eat overrides the risk to one pupil. I think Chris Woodhead is wrong to support Caroline Coles in her complaint as the school have a duty to protect all children. How could any parent not wish to protect a child with a severe nut allergy?

I think the problem at primary school is that they tend to share and swap foods and may not realise what they contain. Both my DD's have nut allergies and were tested at the allergy clinic at St Mary's, Paddington when quite young. They were told to avoid all nuts including those they did not react to. My elder DD loved American Almond nut butter but was told to give that up even though she was not allergic to it - annoying because we are vegetarian. My younger DD is allergic to dogs and horses. She normally has to get off a bus if a dog gets on and the bus is too packed to go to the upper deck. Neither have severe allergies but very unpleasant all the same.

DD1 at aged 13 was given a sweet with nuts in by her friend, on a plane back from a school trip to Spain, had a reaction and as her medicine was in the hold, delayed departure for some time. Luckily another passenger had some medicine in her hand luggage. The teacher was not pleased to say the least when I met her at Heathrow!

to be honest, at primary, i dont see that it should be a problem. at older dds primary, a child started at reception with severe nut allergy and everyone was happy to double check that nothing containing nuts was sent into school. seriously, even if the risk was remote, well as a parent i would want to know that everything was done to avoid that risk.

unworkable at secondary level, where sweets are bought into school etc. but i guess that is the right age for the child to take responsibility- god it must be hard though.

bruffin you made an assumption that the child who had nuts thrown at them was in a school with a nut ban - I don't know for sure but probably not. I do know that it has a nut ban now. Nut allergic children don't get nuts thrown at them now because the children know what would happen if they were caught with a banned food.

It is NOT nut bans that feed complacency. Adrenaline does not always reverse a reaction - something the parents of allergic children prefer not to think about. Therefore the only safe strategy is avoidance. If you have a nut ban there is less nut protein to avoid. You are fostering complacency by suggesting that it is possible to "manage" an allergy without avoidance.

As for the Anaphylaxis Campaign not being aware of those allergic to very small amounts or to smell - they are closing their ears to it. I know that because I have e-mailed them about such people (I've met/ corresponded with some). I'm not a member of the Campaign, they represent only a small proportion of the anaphylactic.

The Cambridge nut allergy study is great but involves very small numbers of children who are able to travel to Cambridge frequently over a 6 month period and less often afterwards. It is hopefully being extended and may cover adults. It isn't available in the rest of the country. One adult died in this country when a stupid alternative practitioner tried the same route without understanding the risks.

As for American peanut bans - there is a sunflower spread alternative to peanut butter. Cheap, nutritious and probably developed for the American market.

School trips are definitely a problem. Despite ensuring the organisers were well aware of the problem my child was given food containing nuts on a school trip. They are well trained, the nuts were obvious and they didn't eat it but they would have gone hungry if I had not sent emergency food supplies. Medication should always be on the child once they are old enough for school trips, although a back up with a staff member is good.

kensingtonia don't know if you've tried the sunflower spread, details of one brand here www.sunbutter.com/

Tatt, I didn't make that assumption at all, if you read my post properly, I said a nut ban wouldn't have made a difference to children who are like that in the first place.

:) Turniphead

"You are fostering complacency by suggesting that it is possible to "manage" an allergy without avoidance. "

I thought she was suggesting that is is possible to "manage" an allergy without expecting everyone else to do the avoidance for you.

wrong, bruffin. The nut ban is observed, at least publically. The students wouldn't throw nuts in school. If caught with a banned food they would be punished, so there are less nuts in school to throw and any there are would be kept hidden.

The children were thoughtless and curious rather than cruel, the existence of the nut ban encourages allergy awareness and demonstrates that the school believes in an unselfish attitude to those with problems. That is part of the reason I supported nut bans before my child developed an anphylactic allergy.

So you want allergic children to stay away from school, SoupDragon - well I've heard that view expressed before but it's beneath contempt.

.

Yes, tatt, that is exactly what I said, isn't it?

My son has a severe nut allergy (carried an epi-pen) I don't agree with nut bans, I taught my son what to avoid. I feel total ban's are scary in the fact that they can breed complacency. It is my son with the allergy, therefore it is his responsibility to keep himself well.

I work for the Anaphylaxis Campaign and we have written to Sir Chris to comment on his response to the letter in The Sunday Times. Here are parts of the letter that summarise our view:

"...There are many schools in the UK and abroad that do send letters such as this home to parents and that do not serve nut or peanut-containing foods. Whilst it is important for older children to learn to avoid accidental exposure to their problem allergen/s, younger children do need to be protected. Primary aged children may not yet fully appreciate the importance of not sharing foods. Schools do of course have a duty of care and in primary schools the best way to protect them may be to minimise exposure to these foods by sending out a letter.

We do accept that allergen ?bans? may prevent allergic children from learning to avoid accidental exposure. It?s vitally important that young people with severe food learn to assess risk in the relatively ?safe? school environment, as they will need to do this once they leave school. So rather than that ?banning? nuts or other allergens, schools should have in place policies and procedures to minimise the risk to allergic pupils."

"It is unacceptable for allergic pupils to be ?sent home? at lunchtime because schools are unable to provide a safe environment for them. Implementing measures such as washing hands before and after eating, discouraging the sharing of foods and thorough cleaning of tables and utensils should help to minimise the risk and ensure that food allergic pupils are not stigmatised ."

With regards to casual contact with peanuts, a study looking at the relevance of casual contact with peanut butter in children with peanut allergy
concluded: "Casual exposure to peanut butter is unlikely to elicit significant allergic reactions. The results cannot be generalized to larger exposures or to contact with peanut in other forms (flour and roasted peanuts). (J Allergy Clin Immunol 2003;112:180-2.)"

I note Chris Woodhead has admitted that his stance regarding nut allergies and school policy was completely wrong. He mentioned in the Sunday Times that he didn't receive one single letter of support and quite right too.

I was glad too-I didn't think it too much to ask.

My children aren't allergic to anything luckily, and I don't send in whole nuts for packed lunch. I thought the school had a ban but i am not sure now as dd's friend has walnuts regularly with no comments made. I must admit I don't check packets and often send in food that has no ingredients list on, I would have thought most people would be similar? I know I would not allow dd to sit on a seperate table which was allergen free as I wouldn't want to take on the responsibility.