It's fairly common to experience some type of inflammation in some part of your body on a fairly regular basis, even if you don't realize it, such as what happens during exercise. As it turns out, there are some natural remedies for helping, and it may just take some small tweaks in your diet!
This is a follow-up to two previous postings: Coping with Food Allergies – Part 1 and
Coping with Food Allergies & Picky Eaters - Part 2.
Once you have your home life squared away, what happens when the control of your young child’s diet is no longer yours, such as when you drop him off at daycare or school? It’s troubling to wonder if another caregiver will really understand your child’s allergy.
These are only five ways to cope with a food allergy in your family. The best course of action usually involves discussing with others what worked best in similar situations in order to determine the right course for your family.
In Health and Happiness,
Kelly Harrington, MS, RD
Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for Healthy Goods
This is a follow-up to a previous posting, Coping with Food Allergies – Part 1.
As discussed in my last blog posting, it can be scary, frustrating and time-consuming trying to figure out how to manage your child’s food allergy, and understandably takes a big toll on the entire family.
I would like to offer parents some tips for managing such an important aspect in your child’s life.
#1: Spend some time looking for allergy-free recipes, specific to the food you are avoiding. Building a collection of recipe’s your family enjoys will reduce cooking frustrations. Where would you find these recipes? There are many allergy-free resources available, such as allergy-free cookbooks, the internet, mobile phone applications, magazines, and your local library and county health department. Home life will become easier if you are able to prepare one delicious meal for everyone to eat. I discourage you from becoming a short order cook. As an additional time saver, purchase allergy-free, ready-made products so you don't have to make everything yourself.
#2: Meet parents who also have kids with food allergies and share tips with them. Support groups and allergy free blogs are both good avenues for pursuing this.
#3: Discover tricks for dealing with a “choosy” eater. It can be frustrating when kids want to eat the same thing every day, but it is not uncommon. Kids are often slow to accept new tastes and textures, so you may have to present a food 10 to 15 times before they will try it. Don’t give up! As the parent, also don’t forget the influence you have on your child’s food preferences. Children often eat what they see their parents eating, so try to be a good role model.
Some children are simply less likely to try new foods, but here are some tips that may work for your child:
#1: Keep mealtime positive. Do not force your child to eat or make “deals” with your child (ie: “eat your vegetables and you will get dessert”).
#2: Allow your child to feed him/herself and offer safe finger foods.
#3: At each meal, make sure there is something your child knows and likes on the plate. Alongside the familiar food, place the unfamiliar food or food your child is typically “choosy” toward.
#4: When introducing a new food, encourage your child to touch, smell, lick, or taste the new food. Let them take their time “exploring” the new food.
#5: Kids love to dip! Use healthy dips such as yogurt, hummus, mustard, ketchup or low-fat salad dressings to encourage your child to eat fruits, vegetables, and meats.
#6: Involve your child in preparing the meal (like dropping cut-up fruit into a bowl for a fruit salad). Handling, smelling and touching the food helps your child get comfortable with the idea of eating it.
#7: Always offer your child what the rest of the family is eating, in toddler-sized portions. Over time, these choices will become as liked and familiar as their favorites.
For more information/resources on food allergies, please visit the following links:
1. www.mayoclinic.com, “Food allergies: Watch food labels for these top 8 allergens.”
2. www.eatright.org, American Dietetic Association
3. www.foodallergy.org, The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network
4. www.babyandkidallergies.com
Please stay tuned for my third and final blog post about food allergies!
In Health and Happiness,
Kelly Harrington, MS, RDN
Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for Healthy Goods
Imagine dissecting the food label for every food product you want to put into your mouth, and upon dissecting that label, needing to understand where every single ingredient comes from! It would be difficult, tedious and frustrating, but absolutely necessary for someone with a food allergy.
Prevalence among Children:
Food allergies are a growing concern in the United States as approximately 1 in 25 people and 1 in 100 children suffer from a food allergy. Among these children, 0-5 year olds have the highest food allergy rate, affecting boys and girls evenly. According to The National Center for Health Statistics, food allergies among children have unfortunately increased by 18% from 1997 to 2007. This also correlates to an increase in the number of visits to ambulatory care clinics due to adverse allergic reactions, which all parents know is stressful, scary, tiresome and costly!
More than 160 foods are known to cause food allergies.
Surprisingly, eight foods account for 90% of all food-allergic reactions:
Regulations:
Manufacturers are required to state on the food label if the product contains protein from any of the top eight allergens; for example, the label will say, “this product contains milk.” Manufacturers may also indicate if the food was made in a facility that contains these allergens, but this is not yet mandatory. Overwhelming? Being a parent can be challenging, let alone being the parent of a child with a food allergy. There are so many things to think about!
Two helpful things a parent can do to ease the transition into this new way of life.
#1: Understanding what ingredients indicate a specific food allergen is very important. To expand your food label reading capability, take a look at the links below. The links name ingredients to avoid based on your child’s specific allergy. Don’t worry about memorizing all those hard to pronounce ingredients! You can print your list and use it as a reference while you shop.
#2: As your child grows older, another extremely important aspect of coping with a food allergy is teaching your little one about their food allergy. Of course, your child’s age will determine the skill and information you give them, so start with the basics. Gradually increase the information so they are eventually able to manage their food choices on their own.
The more you know about your child’s allergy, the easier it will be to manage and increase the variety in your family’s diet, prepare meals, and prevent unwanted reactions.
For more information on hidden milk ingredients, please visit: http://www.foodallergy.org/allergens/milk-allergy
For more information on hidden egg ingredients, please visit: http://www.foodallergy.org/allergens/egg-allergy
For more information on hidden peanut ingredients, please visit: http://www.foodallergy.org/allergens/peanut-allergy
For more information on hidden tree nut ingredients, please visit: http://www.foodallergy.org/allergens/tree-nut-allergy
For more information on hidden soy ingredients, please visit: http://www.foodallergy.org/allergens/soy-allergy
For more information on hidden wheat ingredients, please visit: http://www.foodallergy.org/allergens/wheat-allergy
For more information on hidden fish ingredients, please visit: http://www.foodallergy.org/allergens/fish-allergy
For more information on hidden shellfish ingredients, please visit: http://www.foodallergy.org/allergens/shellfish-allergy
Please stay tuned for the next blog post when I will discuss more on food allergies!
In Health and Happiness,
Kelly Harrington, MS, RD
Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for Healthy Goods
