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Quick Tips for Your Allergic Child's Return to School

NEWS RELEASE - September 27, 2007

ROCHESTER, NY— The first weeks of school are now behind the parents and children who beat the pavement to get all the right supplies at all the best sale prices and many are feeling a huge sense of relief. Some parents, however, may still be apprehensive about having sent a child out of sight to an environment with hundreds of other children who may expose them to potentially life-threatening allergens.

“Schools have a good handle on protecting children with allergies,” says Mark Cohen, MD, a board-certified family medicine practitioner and pediatrician with Lifetime Health Medical Group. “However, there are two simple but critical steps parents and the children with allergies should take to help prevent any mishaps.”

Each school district implements its own policies for preventing children with life-threatening allergies from being exposed to the allergen in question. Some, for example, eliminate all latex balloons in the school because latex dust can get into the air for a latex-sensitive child to breath. Others designate certain cafeteria tables as “peanut free” so no peanut dust or crumbs are eaten next to a child with a nut allergy.

For schools to effectively devise and implement those policies, explains Cohen, parents need to make sure that the school nurse is fully aware of the child’s allergies. “In the younger grades, some districts don’t require a yearly physical because the students are too young for sports. It could well be the case that an allergy develops or is discovered in a year after the one in which a school receives a physical form. In this situation, it is imperative that parents communicate that change in health status to the school nurse so appropriate measures can be taken,” he says.

It’s also critical for parents to educate their children about their allergies. A child who is aware, and makes others aware, of what he or she can or can’t have is less likely to be exposed to something by mistake.

“If your child has a nut allergy, for example, make sure he or she knows what kinds of nuts and nut products are off limits and knows to ask people if food contains any of those products before they accept it,” says Cohen. “Your child should know not to swap dessert with a friend without first asking if the innocent-looking sugar cookie actually contains nuts. Learning not to assume something is safe is key to actually being safe.”

Cohen’s practice is in the Perinton Health Center (77 Sully's Trail) of Lifetime Health Medical Group. For more information about Lifetime Health Medical Group, call 585-338-4944 or visit www.lifetimehealth.org.

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