Food Allergy Living Blog Tagged Results

I recently attended the Kids with Food Allergies Family Fun Event at the Whole Foods in North Wales, Pennsylvania and I was so impressed with how responsible the kids I met there were with managing their food allergies.

This made me think about how important it is to train your little ones to manage their food allergies. As a parent, you will always play an important role, but once they go off to school and pick up extracurricular activities you won’t be with them all the time. Plus, although some allergies are outgrown, others are life-long conditions so managing food allergies will always be a part of their lives.

Teaching Toddlers and Young Children About Food Allergies:

The skills and information you give your child about their food allergies will depend on their age. Start out with the basics; providing too much information will confuse them at this age.

• You have food allergies and some foods can make you sick.
• Do not EAT, TOUCH or SMELL ANY food until it has been approved by mom or dad (or a designated family member/caregiver).
• If you don’t feel well, or even just feel funny, let a grown up know right away.
• When in doubt, spit it out!

The best way to get through to a toddler or young child is to get on their level. Teach them through activities they enjoy!

• Storybooks:
  • Guide for preschoolers with peanut and tree nut allergies
  • Taking Food Allergies to School
  • Starting School With a Food Allergy
  • Children’s Allergy Storybooks in Spanish
• Videos:
  • Binky Goes Nuts (part of the Arthur series)

• Music:
  • Kyle Dine’s educational CD, “You Must Be Nuts”
• Games:
  • Food Allergy Crossword Puzzle
  • Back To School Interactive Game
  • Make your own food allergy education games. For example, print out pictures of safe and unsafe foods and put them on flashcards. Then you can have your child go through the cards and identify which ones are safe and unsafe. Another idea to make a variation on the game “Where’s Waldo” and play “Find The Allergen” with examples of ingredient lists.
• Presentations
  • Presentation On Food Allergies for Elementary School Kids

Teaching Older Kids and Teenagers about Food Allergies:

For those of you with older kids and teens, below are some resources that may be helpful for you as you continue to educate them on food allergy management.

• Talking To Your Teen About Food Allergies
• Presentation on Food Allergies for Secondary School Kids
• Older kids and teens who carry their own EpiPens at school may need to carry a letter from their health care provider
• iPhone Apps: We don’t have to tell you that teens are glued to their cell phones! Apps are a way for teens to manage their food allergies in a way that’s familiar and convenient for them!
  • NoPeanut
  • Food Content Alerts
  • iCanEat OnTheGo
  • iEatOut Gluten & Allergen Free

How are you teaching your little ones about their food allergies? Any tips or resources that you would recommend for other parents?

-Mallory

[Image: Flickr]

Kids with Food Allergies (KFA) is hosting their 2^nd Annual Family Fun Event and Expo on September 12 and October 2. For the first time the events will take place in two different locations! They are excited to be back in North Wales, PA on Sunday, September 12 at the Whole Foods Market and will also be in Houston, TX on Saturday, October 2 at LaCenterra at Cinco Ranch.

Raising Food Allergy Awareness While Having Fun!

The KFA family fun events were put together to help raise food allergy awareness and funds to support KFA education, outreach and support programs. These are free events you don’t want to miss. There is fun for the whole family including a children’s dance-a-thon, live music and lots of great allergy friendly foods! It’s a great chance for kids and parents to connect with other families and get an opportunity to share experiences and learn new ways to deal with food allergies.

There will be all sorts of exciting entertainment for food allergic children. Special guest, Kyle Dine will be performing at both Expos! He will provide a music performance and puppet show that will be a sure entertainment for the kids.

We are pleased to be supporters of these events and to help raise food allergy awareness. We are excited to share that we will also be attending both expos. Be sure to stop by and say hello to Mallory in North Wales and Madalene, another colleague of ours, in Houston! We will be available to answer any Neocate questions you may have and help you and your family to have a fantastic day!

It’s not too late to register online.

We hope to see you there.

- Sarah

Our post today is a guestblogentry from Kyle Dine, a Canadian songwriter who creates children's music that educates and entertains about food allergies.  We’d like to thank Kyle for guest blogging for us today! 

“Food Allergies Rock!” — Three words that sum up all of my feelings about the condition I have lived with since I was a toddler.  I do realize that this phrase may be a tad optimistic, especially if you have ever experienced an anaphylactic reaction, or ever witnessed your child experience these terrible symptoms.  After experiencing several severe allergic reactions in my life, I will be the first to admit that food allergies don’t always rock.  But, I’ll explain why it’s so important that you and your kids should adopt this motto too.

“Food Allergies Rock!” is the name of my most recent children’s music CD dedicated to kids with allergies.  Every song on this CD is an offshoot of this empowering phrase with its own unique message on staying safe and staying positive.

 Songs such as My Epineph-Friend, One of the Gang, and Able to Read a Label promote thinking about allergies in a fun and positive way while illustrating that food allergies don’t have to define you nor limit you in life.

It’s so easy to focus on the negatives — the doom and gloom.  But that is no way to live and no way to have a healthy attitude in life.  There is a lot of encouraging research these days with respect to someday having a treatment for allergies.  However I am personally more drawn to quality of life studies because they uncover novel strategies on how to manage allergies while living normally.

One study in particular fromThe Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, discusses how important it is for children to focus on the positives in order to become empowered over their allergies.

“clinical experience suggests that children who adopt a negative attitude toward theirallergies (eg, focus on limitations and differences from peers) may be more likely to experience distress than children who adopt a more positive perspective (eg, emphasize strengths and coping strategies).”

What are the exact reasons why food allergies rock?  I’ll let the lyrics of the song do the talking.

 “Food Allergies Rock”

Food Allergies Rock

To tell you the truth I would rather have them than not

Food Allergies Rock!

I wouldn’t trade them I’m happy with what I got

Just a few foods that I can’t eat

But none of them are in my favorite treat

I can stay safe and I can stay well

Because I stay alert after the dinner bell

I could be a doctor or an astronaut

Whatever I choose I can reach the top

So I have food allergies

But I won’t let them define me

I can read labels like I read a book

And I’m so creative when I try to cook

I can eat healthy things like fruit

For every thing I can’t, there’s a substitute

I can be brave and speak up for myself

I can find safe foods on a cupboard shelf

I can teach my friends what they’re all about

And I’ll be just fine living without.

- Kyle Dine

Kyle Dine’s music can be downloaded off of iTunes or bought from the product catalogs of The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network  and Anaphylaxis Canada.  For more information about Kyle Dine and his school wide allergy awareness assemblies, please visit his website at www.kyledine.com or connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.