Parental Peanut Paranoia

The rise of peanut allergies is alarming and frightening, especially for parents and teachers who have to constantly worry about what they feed the children in their lives. I am a school band director for children between third and eighth grade, and at the beginning of the year, I get a list of my students' allergies - and it is a long list. In my first year teaching, I was very surprised to see that there are a handful of children in every class with allergies to peanuts and some other nuts (among other foods, of course, like milk and cheese, eggs, wheat, gluten, et cetera).

Parents with a child who has a fatal allergy to peanuts have a very tough job. Peanuts are in lots of things, and it must be very challenging and horrifying to have worry about every food that passes through a child's lips. There are studies being done that may help to curb the severity of the allergic reaction, but these studies are relatively new and so they attract both praise and skepticism.

The causes of peanut allergies are numerous. Some of the causes include increased allergenicity of roasted peanuts, consumption of peanuts before a child's immune system is developed more fully, and the increased use of peanut-based skin products (like lotions and ointments). I would have never made these connections before doing some research. I thought that allergies were simply heredity or random. I had never heard of these possible causes, which makes me wonder if new parents always know about these risks. With the number of allergies being so alarmingly high, you would think their would be more media attention on this issue. It is now considered unsafe to introduce peanuts into a child's diet before age 2. Even then, many parents agree that with the risks so high, the first tatse test should be conducted at a doctor's appointment, where medical intervention is at the ready if need be.