O'Fallon school bans peanuts to protect students with allergies
Associated Press
The beloved peanut butter sandwich will be missing this year from the
cafeteria menu at Rock Creek Elementary School here. School
administrators are taking the unusual step of removing peanuts from
student meals to protect a growing number of kids with food
allergies.
"It sounds goofy, but to these kids a peanut butter sandwich is like
a loaded gun," said Deanne McCullough, principal at Rock Creek, where
more than a dozen students have some type of allergy to
peanuts. "Their lives are already impacted so much. At school, they
can at least have that part of their life be normal."
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Sunday that more schools in the
St. Louis area are saying goodbye to peanuts. Some experts say it's a
measure more schools will consider as the number of children in the
United States with a peanut allergy continues to rise.
Missouri education officials do not track the number of schools that
ban peanuts. But the number of districts nationwide that have some
type of peanut ban is increasing, according to a survey the School
Nutrition Association conducted this spring.
Of 1,200 districts nationwide that responded, 18 percent banned
peanuts because of food allergies. That's up from 12.7 percent in
2005, the last time the association surveyed districts.
The bans are a reaction to the increased number of allergic students
who might have sometimes life-threatening reactions to even small
amounts of peanuts or peanut butter.
The incidence of food allergies has doubled over the last decade,
according to the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network, an advocacy
group based in Fairfax, Va.
One study conducted in 1997 and repeated in 2002 showed that peanut
allergies had doubled in children during that five-year span, the
group says. Scientists are still trying to figure out why.
One of many theories is that a child's immune system misidentifies
certain foods as harmful because children are exposed to fewer germs
these days. Another is simply that peanut allergies are being
recognized more. In 2006, the group estimated that 435,000, or less
than 1 percent, of school-age children had a peanut allergy.
Rock Creek Elementary banned peanuts after administrators learned
that two students could have life-threatening reactions to airborne
allergens from peanuts. The ban came at the advice of a pediatrician,
McCullough said. Nearby Mount Hope Elementary School has been peanut-
free for three years.
The school's decision surprised Jennifer Kaiser, a Rock Creek mother
who describes one of her daughters as a "peanut butter monster." But
she says it's about more than having finicky eaters to feed in her
family.
"It's not just about peanut butter," Kaiser said. "We are educators
and parents, and I think our biggest job would be to help this child
become confident and secure with their allergy. This is an extreme
measure that doesn't do anything to help the child in the long run.
It's setting up an unrealistic environment."
Stephanie Clawson, a St. Charles County mother, knows the dangers of
peanut allergies. At 15 months old, her daughter Isabelle touched the
peanut butter sandwich her mom was eating and broke into hives on her
chest.
After a visit to the doctor, Clawson learned that the smallest amount
of peanut butter could threaten her daughter's life. She understands
why schools would ban the food.
"If it was a matter of hives or getting itchy, I could understand
them not wanting to change their child's whole menu. But this is more
serious than that," Clawson said. "I have very picky children too,
and they will not starve."
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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com