Health Writing Sample - Louisville, KY

Get Proactive on Childhood-Allergy Awareness
Peanuts in the dugout can be far from game-enhancing

By Go-To Mom Leslea Harmon, New Albany, IN

The sun was going down on an early summer's day, and the park was filling up with the after-work traffic of families with young children. My sons clambered out of the car and skipped across the mulch-covered playground to the swing set, where they immediately insisted on being pushed.

As I held my hands out to oblige, a piece of mulch flipped up off the ground from beneath my sandal and landed across my foot, lodging itself between my big and index toe. "I'll get it in a minute," I thought, as I pushed one then scooted to the other boy's swing.

Backing up and glancing down, I noticed it wasn't mulch caught between my toes at all: it was a peanut shell. "Great!" I thought. "A peanut shell."

I got a tissue out of my pocket, and used it as a barrier between the offending shell and myself, and scanned for any more peanuts in the area before heading to a nearby trashcan to dispose of the contaminant. I wasn't expecting the peanut intruder, but I was equipped to handle it.

What's the big deal about coming across a peanut shell? To my oldest child, peanuts are poison: He's one of the 1 percent of American children under age 6 who has peanut allergy. He's also one of the 4 to 6 percent of American kids allergic to some kind of food, including not just peanuts, but also wheat, fish, corn, soy, and tree nuts.

With so many kids in our country susceptible to life-threatening situations, many parents, teachers, caregivers, and family members have devised "peanut-safe zones," "food-free playgroups," and other arrangements in order to keep these kids safe. But what's a parent to do in situations outside the norm?

"School is O.K. — we know everyone there," another allergy parent commented to me recently. "But what happens when we join the Girl Scouts, or decide to be part of a softball team? Do we have to start all over again every single time?"

It's a good question. While it might feel overwhelming, a bit like starting over from scratch, extracurricular, after-school, or summer activities provide a great opportunity for children to learn about their own care, and to educate their peers. It's even a good conversational starting place for learning about the sensitive health needs of others.

Did you know your daughter can earn a Girl Scout badge just for being a PAL? That's PAL as in "Protect a Life," a program the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) has designed in conjunction with the Girl Scouts. This badge program helps kids learn about the effects of food allergies on their friends who face the danger of life-threatening reactions. If your child is the only one in the troop who has food allergies, you can help with the badge requirements and presentation, and then observe as your daughter and her friends earn their badges through active participation. Experience is the best teacher, after all.

While there's typically no badge requirement for team sports, a Little League devotee can approach his coach —  with your help, if necessary — about complementary efforts between team parents who may be providing snacks and the players, who might need to understand from the horse's mouth why peanuts in the dugout are not a good idea.

As one coach put it, "No food in the dug-out: We're here to play ball, not to eat!" An allergy parent can be chosen as the designated Team Snack Coordinator, making sure that any post-game munchies are safe for all to share. But perhaps the kids on the team wouldn't mind sharing the responsibility of checking the labels, once their teammate has shown them how. A child old enough to read is definitely old enough to take the initiative of explaining food allergies.

Most allergy parents, whether their child suffers from food allergies, environmental allergies, asthma, or eczema, have a lot of experience in explaining the situation to caregivers and teachers. It's the times when "fun" is going on that can be really hard to interrupt; no one wants to be a "party pooper."

But Moms: keep in mind that nothing poops on a party more than a preventable trip to the emergency room. Your child's friends and new acquaintances would feel very guilty for causing such a thing to happen to your child, not to mention the possibility of causing a death. And extracurricular group leaders will benefit from your experience in having handled various situations in the past,.They might even surprise you with firsthand knowledge of their own.

The example your family sets by being proactive in an extracurricular setting may even inspire families with other health considerations to come forward. Celiac disease, diabetes, epilepsy, bee sting, latex allergy: All of these are serious, and common, health considerations for children and adults alike.

While we can't make every community activity 100 percent safe for every child, a little awareness goes a long way. Hiding or omitting vital information about known allergies or similar conditions is not the easy way out in the long run. Eventually, someone is going to get a peanut between the toes, and you'll need to know that the kids and adults around your child have the tools to deal with unpredictable — and predictable —  situations as they arise.
Published: June 15, 2006
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