Allergy
friendly and inclusive class celebrations
It's
as easy as 1, 2, 3...
Food treats are still common in many class rooms and
kinder’s today whether it’s to celebrate a birthday, or whether it’s a teacher
sweet treat, fundraiser or class party. But why risk it?
Food treats, to celebrate birthdays for instance, exclude those children who have food
allergies, coeliac disease (gluten free diet), food intolerances and diabetes,
and other special dietary requirements.
1. Minimise
risk
Food free celebrations are an
easy and fun way to help minimise
risk in the class room and
keep kids safe.
If a teacher decides to serve food treats in the
classroom, they should be safe for all children. But, unless you live with
food allergies or coeliac disease, it’s difficult to understand everything
involved in serving safe food.
While healthier treats are a
better avenue, they still pose a large risk for those with food allergies and
even coeliac, as muffins and even cut fruit are often prepared in kitchens
where allergens are present and therefore may have cross contamination/ contact
risk.
A young student of mine with anaphylaxis, had a serious
allergic reaction from a contaminated drinking glass. Unfortunately a serious
reaction from cross contact is not uncommon. As an allergy parent, I have
heard many stories where the cause of the anaphylactic reaction at school or
childcare was caused by food brought in by a parent. Around 25% of the
reactions that occur at school, the student had not yet been diagnosed with
food allergy. These reactions range from mild to severe and even fatal.
So, why put anyone under such pressure?
2. Include all children
If you have 5 little friends in a group play date at your
house, and you only have 4 icy poles, would you serve the icy-poles and make
one child miss out?
Actually, something similar did happen only the other day
in my kid’s class: the teacher emailed me late in the day to say the icy pole
was in the freezer at school, as she wasn’t sure if it was safe, and if I
wanted to pick it up? So, my child had to sit and watch on a hot day, as the
rest of the class joyfully ate their icy poles. This type of thing happens a
lot to kids with allergies.
When an entire class is participating in an activity, and
one child is left out, what message is this for children?
Firstly, it isolates a single child from the rest of the
class. This sets them up as different, sets them up as targets for bullying. We
know children with serious allergies already have a very high rate of anxiety,
for them food can kill. And we know children with allergies already experience
a higher rate of bullying.
By including children with allergies, and other health
issues, we are leading by example. Schools can be a safe and supportive
environment in which students at risk of anaphylaxis can participate equally in all aspects of the student’s
schooling. We can encourage and educate our students to be inclusive.
If we adopt food-free celebrations ALL CHILDREN can be
included in all school activities. Easy!
3. Food-free
celebrations in the class room
It’s an easy lesson in inclusion. Here are a few food-free
celebrations ideas that I have heard about that are FUN and EASY:
- Non-food
treats such as coloured pencils, stickers, colouring pages, always popular
with kids.
- Read a book
to class, and donate the book to the school class room.
- Instead of
lolly bags, teachers could create a birthday ticket for instance, “sit by
a friend” or “teacher helper “, or other pre-approved activities.
- Class
parties could be fun games or special activities, or extra recess
/playground/ free time for all children.
- Parents can choose not to send in any treat, the child’s birthday can be acknowledged
without treats, and parents shouldn’t feel pressured to do so. Class
can sing happy birthday for instance.
It’s an easy equation to teach kids. Food free fun in the
classroom equals inclusion and less risk. Schools can demonstrate allergy
awareness, inclusive policy and equality in the class room. It’s easy! And fun!
After all, we teach children in the playground not
to exclude, to include everyone in play. So, surely we can lead by example in
the class room too and include everyone. Better to exclude the food than the
child.
Encouraging food free celebrations reflects an inclusive and
caring environment which most schools strive to achieve. And, food free celebrations
make life a bit easier at school….who doesn’t like easy? Let’s keep our schools
safe and inclusive for all students.
FAST FIGURES
anaphylaxis
· Hospital
admissions for severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) have doubled over the
last decade in Australia, USA and UK.
· Allergic
reactions frequently occur away from home. One in seven schools and one
in 30 childcare services in Western Australia (WA) report having observed at
least one episode of anaphylaxis in the preceding year.
· Anaphylaxis can
also occur in children not previously identified as being at risk of
anaphylaxis.
· In one US
school’s study, 55% of adrenaline autoinjectors (AAIs) for general use were
administered to individuals not previously identified as being at risk of
anaphylaxis, with similar findings (55%) in WA schools. A more recent survey
base study of American schools reported that 21.9% of episodes of anaphylaxis
occurred in individuals with no known allergy at all.
Coeliac disease
· Coeliac disease
affects approximately 1 in 70 Australians. The rate of diagnosis for children
is rising.
Diabetes
- The NHS and NDSS data are the best available
sources for monitoring diagnosed diabetes prevalence in Australia,
yielding prevalence rates of 3.6% in 2004-05.
- The total number of Australians with diabetes
and pre-diabetes is estimated to be approximately 3.5 million. About 1.1
million Australians have been diagnosed with diabetes. For every person
diagnosed, it is estimated that there is another person who is not yet
diagnosed.
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