Food Allergy Week May 14-20, 2017
Australian children have the highest recorded rate of food allergies in the world. One in 10 babies born in Australia today will develop a food allergy. As, Food Allergy Week coincides with Mother's Day this year we are highlighting the awesome work of Aussie Food Allergy mums and advocates.
Australia has the unfortunate title of "Food Allergy Capital of the World". Hospital admissions for severe allergic reactions quadrupled in the last 20 years, while alarmingly the number of allergy-related deaths in Australia is increasing by 10 per cent each year.
In our Food Allergy Mum Interview Series, we hope to promote understanding and insight in to the challenges of parenting a child with life threatening food allergies, along with the need for change to build an allergy aware allergy safe commUNITY!
Grace O'Neill, Children's author & Pediatric Counsellor
What are your child’s allergies? When did you find
out?
My oldest son is now 8. He was diagnosed at 9
months, after ongoing rashes. As a baby, he was at risk of anaphylaxis to 8 out
of the top 9 allergens. He was also allergic to numerous other foods. He has
since outgrown a number of his allergens and only reacts to cow’s milk, eggs,
peanuts and most of the tree nuts. My younger son is now 4. He was diagnosed at
3 months old, with multiple non-IGE mediated allergies. I breastfed both of my
kids until about 18 months age. Both of them required specific diets that were
free from their allergens. Both our boys also suffer from asthma, although
their asthma is now well controlled thanks to preventative medications.
What would be one of the most difficult aspects of
daily living with food allergies? Or one of the biggest challenges
raising a child with food allergies?
The never- ending cycle of having to cook, clean
and cook again means that there is rarely a meal off, let alone a day off. We
are also very careful about who looks after them apart from their dad and
myself.
How important is the support of friends, family,
and community?
We have been surrounded by some very supportive
friends and community. Just today we attended a birthday party, and since our
son was unable to have the same lollies in his party bag, he was the only child
to get OOSHIES instead. He was delighted! As I was explaining to my son that he
might be able to have an icypole from the café, another friend rushed over to
let me read the ingredients on her icypole. These kids are only 8, but they
show remarkable compassion, understanding and support to our son.
What would you like other people to know about
caring for a child with food allergies? How can families who don’t live
with food allergies be extra
safe around your food allergic child?
We don’t expect others to eat only the foods we
eat. However, our friends have ensured that their children sit when they eat
and wash up well afterwards to avoid contamination. We try not to focus on
food when the kids are around. Instead, we focus on activities and having fun.
This is something all the kids can share in!
Do you have a proud mum moment (of your food
allergic child?) that you would like to share?
There are many proud moments as an allergy mum.
Most recently, my son began to advocate for himself, asking the teachers
whether he could substitute certain ingredients to make it safe for him to
participate. Although I did have interactions with the teachers too, he was
able to make suggestions that were suitable for him. Just two weeks earlier he
came back from school with a recipe for Anzac biscuits that he had copied out
of a book. He had actually substituted Nuttelex for butter, to make it safe for
him to eat. I believe effective allergy education has meant that both our boys
are able to live a very full, social and fulfilling life, despite their
allergies.
What would be one piece of advice for parents who
have a child with new food allergy diagnosis?
Join a community where you can ask questions and
gain knowledge from others who have been there before. Facebook has lots of
groups you can join, and gives us an opportunity to ask serious questions and
occasionally just let off steam with others who understand. I facilitate a
Facebook Group called Allergy Fun – Support. Topics range from food ideas,
medical issues, social situations and even to social gatherings with local
families. Although I run the group, there are many parents who contribute and
whom I also learn things from.
How can we raise food allergy awareness in our
communities?
I think we have made great head way in many areas
of allergy awareness. However, I believe the social and emotional impact of
food allergies is not often considered. Schools and Kinders can do a lot more
to support our children in this area. This is the reason I wrote the book
Allergy Fun – growing up with multiple food allergies
Thank-you for being a food allergy awareness
advocate. What inspires you?
I didn’t
choose to become an allergy mum, but being able to help others through personal
counselling and group support gives meaning to the journey we are on. One of the most important parts
of being an allergy parent is to make sure we take time out to rest, refuel and
rejuvenate. Nobody can keep going all the time, and our kids need us to be
well, both physically and mentally.
Grace O'Neill is a mother of two lovely boys.
Her eldest is at risk of anaphylaxis to milk, eggs and all nuts, and her youngest has
multiple food allergies. Grace is the author of food Allergy Fun, Growing up with Food Allergies designed for children with multiple food allergies. Grace is a trained counsellor and provides individual
counselling for allergy parents and children. Allergy Fun is the coming together
of her life with two allergy kids and her desire to see all kids develop into
caring, confident and contributing members in our society. Allergies has taken
our family's life on a different route than expected. Along the way, I have been
blessed to meet many others who are on the same road, and by travelling
together, we can encourage, laugh and cry, knowing we are not alone.
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