Food allergies should be taken very seriously
May is food-allergy-awareness month and monuments around the world, including the CN Tower and Niagara Falls, will be lit up in teal, the official colour of food allergies, to help raise awareness.
Yet, if there was one wish, aside from a cure, that parents of food-allergic children desired, it would be that others understood it better. Food allergies are highly misunderstood. Those diagnosed aren’t sick and have no visible disability. Yet, the very thing that everyone else lives off for survival, namely, food, is the same thing that terrifies these children and their parents. What nourishes one child, may kill another. And yet, something about food allergies evokes in others feelings of annoyance, disbelief and dismissiveness. Why?
People assume they’re overhyped, a fad or a condition made up by the anxious likes of helicopter parents. There is so much confusion over the word “allergy” itself. It’s the same word used to describe itchy, watery eyes and runny noses and, unfortunately, is often borrowed by those who simply dislike or don’t want to eat a particular food.
The word “allergy” has become so damn diluted that it’s no wonder that it’s not taken seriously. But severe food allergies are something different. They’re life-threatening and when someone accidentally eats a food to which they’re allergic, they can go into anaphylactic shock and die.
The fears are real and there is nothing easy or made up when it comes to living with this life-threatening reality. Food allergies aren’t a choice. They’re not a diet. They’re not a healthy regimen (in fact, some of the most common allergens these kids have to avoid are considered super foods — think : walnuts).
Every three minutes someone goes to the emergency room for an allergic reaction and just last year a beautiful three-year-old boy named Elijah died in a New York daycare because he was fed a grilled-cheese sandwich, despite being allergic to dairy. And yet, sadly, children are still bullied, sometimes smeared with peanut butter, because others think it’s a joke.
My son is allergic to tree nuts and sesame. I’ve had to inject him on two different occasions with an EpiPen and had I not, he likely would have died. Every time I drop him off at school, camp, basketball practice or a friend’s house, I’m slightly tense until he comes home.
Food is everywhere, and other than his own vigilance, the only thing I can count on when I’m not around is the people who are watching him. Perhaps what evokes the negative feelings is that food allergies are the one medical condition that asks something of others.
Parents are asked to refrain from sending their kids to school with peanut butter, airlines are asked to not serve nuts on flights, restaurants are asked to make changes to the foods they serve and schools are asked to change their policies. We do ask a lot of others and those of us in the food-allergy community should always be grateful for the sacrifices others make for our children’s safety. Trust me, we wish we didn’t have to.
The reality is I can’t always be there with my son to protect him, but one day you might be and I will need you to understand, to be aware, and to help me keep him safe. For this I will be more grateful than you will ever know. I just hope that won’t be too much to ask.
Abby Herzig is founder and CEO of Belay, a digital health-care platform designed for children and families living with severe food allergies. This first appeared in The Toronto Sun.