New Thinking About Diagnosis and Prevention of Food Allergies in Kids

By Christina Elston

If your child has a food allergy – or attends a peanut-free classroom – then you know how serious this diagnosis in kids can be.

In December, a seventh-grader in Chicago died after reportedly suffering an allergic reaction to food served at a classroom party, prompting renewed debate over Illinois policies for handling food allergies in the schools.

Schools nationwide have confronted an increase in food allergies over the last two decades with policies that ban certain foods from the classroom, school parties and designated tables in the cafeteria. Restaurants and food vendors now post signs urging customers to let servers know whether they have a food allergy before ordering.

Food allergies – particularly those serious enough to cause death if not treated immediately – are frightening, especially for parents who must ensure that their kids are protected from accidental exposure to allergens outside the home. And millions of kids in the United States (about 3 million in 2008, according to the national Centers for Disease Control) are currently diagnosed with them.

But the upsurge in food allergy cases – tripling between 1997 and 2006, government research shows – has prompted concern, some skepticism and new thinking. Now, new federal guidelines suggest that parents and health providers pay more attention to how a food allergy diagnosis is made.