Food Allergies in Children

Food allergies are very common. In the United States four out of 100 children have a food allergy. According to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between the years 1997 and 2007 the number of young people who had food allergies has increased by 18 percent. 

If you are a parent of a young child chances are you know a child who has some kind of food allergy. Food allergy is an immune reaction to specific foods. 

Read my interview with my dear friend Swati Borkar 

Swati with her lovely daughter

and learn how her daughter's allergy has changed their family life. 

After the initial reaction of confusion she found ways to change their eating habits, and combat her daughter's food and environmental allergies. She is brave, smart and inspirational. Swati loves cooking. But her passion doesn’t end there-she challenges herself to create gluten free recipes, use natural dyes and make things from scratch. Homemade goldfish anyone?

Q: How did it change your life?

A: Not knowing where to start, I just logged onto the internet and spend hours researching and trying to understand what my daughter was actually going through biologically. Thankfully, her condition was quite common in North America and I found solace on many experiences that I read about. But eczema and food allergies are both very case specific and there's no known treatment which completely cures the condition.

Some children outgrow their allergies with age, others have to live with them through their entire life.
My first step was the hardest as I had to explain to my 3 year old at that time why she couldn't eat the foods she loved. I slowly and steadily introduced newer foods to her and cajoled her into trying them. Simultaneously, I also started looking out for places and products which were allergen free.

Homemade gluten free cake

Wheat was the hardest allergen to get rid of. Even though we stopped giving her the usual bread, pasta, cookies etc...it still made its way into her diet through other foods like malt, thickeners or starches added to packaged foods. I read books on additives added to packaged foods and researched online on how to understand food labels. Now my time spent in grocery stores was tripled as I had to read each label. Slowly I stopped giving her processed foods and introduced fresh fruits and vegetables during snack time.

But I still felt very sad as she couldn't eat a lot of her favorite foods, for example, goldfish, pizzas and cookies like her other friends.
Birthday parties were the hardest times as the usual food was always cakes and pizzas. I didn't want my child to be deprived of these small pleasures in life. Once again, thanks to numerous bloggers I managed to get recipes and prepared all these foods from scratch at home. Her joy made all my efforts worth it. For her birthday party, I prepared her cake from scratch and also decorated it with natural vegetable colors. 

I also learned about cross contamination of food and how to contain it. We had separate jars of butter and jam, separate storage areas for gluten free foods. I would avoid cooking gluten and non gluten food at the same time. I learned to wash down the kitchen throughly after cooking gluten food.
For her environmental allergies we had to remove all carpets and upholstery from our home. Wash all her stuffed animals and pack away most of them. Her bedding was to be covered by allergen proof covers. We also had HEPA filters running to purify the air.

We also use dye free and fragrance free liquid detergents and natural cleaners to reduce all her chemical exposure.

I continue researching and trying to find out ways to make her childhood happy and stress free.

Q: What is the biggest challenge? 

A: Eczema and food allergies are very common but there's no know cause of it or even cure. There could be multiple factors and its not possible to detect each one. Through blood work or skin test 7 main allergens, namely wheat, eggs, milk, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish are looked out for. But an individual could react to any other foods too. My daughter also reacts to eggplants, acidic foods and artificial colors and flavors. Each individual's body deals with it in its own way. It’s very frustrating for parents who are unable to understand what triggers a reaction in their child. The only way to detect is by introducing foods in tiny amounts and watching out for their reaction in your child. The scary part is that allergic reactions could be from hives and skin rashes to extremely fatal asphyxiation. Doctors only prescribe steroids which helps to manage the symptoms but it’s not a cure. Parents of allergic children are also prescribed an epinephrine injection to be carried with them at all times for any emergencies.

Q: How does it affect your family dynamic?

A: It is very important for parents to educate themselves about this medical condition and to make lifestyle changes. As for us, apart from changes to our diet and kitchen, we also introduced a lot of organic foods. We regularly shop at Whole Foods and other health shops.

Since our daughter’s skin has become extremely sensitive to heat, we avoid going out in intense heat. Beaches are reserved only for late evenings.

Q: Did you change your eating habits?

A: Children learn best from emulating adults. So we reduced our wheat consumption and now I am totally gluten free. Apart from rice, we have introduced quinoa, oats, sorghum, millet flours into our diet which are not only gluten free but much more nutritious than wheat. It’s easier when the whole family enjoys the same foods.

For the foods we still had to consume like eggs, we found healthier allergen free alternatives for her. 

Q: How hard is it to find gluten free products?

A: There are many gluten free products available in stores and online but not all are palatable. Besides some of them have eggs so it isn’t suitable for us. Apart from pasta, I prefer making most products at home.

Q: How does your child feel about all of this?

A: Initially she felt very isolated and deprived and probably confused as to what was happening to her. She would always ask why she was the only one suffering among her friends. It takes a lot of love, patience and understanding to make your child feel loved and cared for while maintaining the normalcy. We always explained to her that it’s a temporary condition and would soon go away. I struggled creating recipes so she wouldn't feel deprived. Thankfully we had good friends who supported us in our endeavors and made our daughter feel just as normal. In fact her friends always preferred eating her gluten free food as they thought it was more special than the usual gluten cookie.

But strangers would always question about the rashes on her face which made her feel uncomfortable. We just learnt to politely answer briefly.

Photo credit: Microsoft online clip art

Q: What would you suggest to other Moms?

A: I believe the first step is to identify the causes of the allergies. Maintain a daily log of what your child eats and how they react. Since there is no cure, identifying the causes can help get relieve from the symptoms.

Secondly, this condition can have adverse effects on their physical and mental wellbeing. Being constantly itchy can make them very irritable and hypersensitive. Also if the rashes are visible, unwanted queries from strangers can make them emotionally withdrawn. 

You have to constantly reassure your child with your love and support.

Q: Anything else you would like to add?

A: I have also noticed that stress is a major trigger for her itchy phases. After a tantrum or a conflict, she invariably breaks into an uncontrollable itch. I therefore avoid conflicts from escalating and try to work around solutions.

Apart from steroids I also tried alternative medicine. Homeopathy seemed to help. The medications improved her appetite which in turn is strengthening her immunity. I see much lesser rashes and itchy skin. She still abstains from the allergy causing foods but is better reacting to environmental conditions.  

Q: What resources are available to educate one’s self?

A: My best resource has been the internet. Though it can be very overwhelming and confusing at times, it’s up to parents to sort through information and make the best use of it.

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