New National Food Allergy Guidelines Recommend Education, Not Ban

The new Allergy Guidelines recommend removing total food bans from schools and child care centers to raise education and awareness about allergies and anaphylaxis.

The National Allergy Strategy, announced Thursday, was developed with experts and aims to clarify the management and prevention of anaphylaxis in schools. According to a survey, up to 1 in 20 school-aged children in Australia have food allergies.

This strategy has been developed for two years and is supported by “Best Practice Guidelines for the Prevention and Management of Anaphylaxis in School and Child Education and Care”.

Preeti Joshi, Co-Chair of the National Allergy Strategy, said the guidelines would create a standardized national approach where traditionally the “gray area” was.

“Australia is a world leader in managing anaphylaxis in schools and children’s education and care, but there are still differences in policies, guidelines, staff training requirements and incident reporting across Australia,” said Dr. Joshi.

Inclusion’would be great’

Perth’s mother, Haley McLean, had the worst nightmare for all parents when her son Lincoln had an anaphylactic reaction to dairy products in a nursery at the age of two.

He was diagnosed with a severe allergy to milk when he was only 12 months old and his family was told to carry EpiPen at all times.

“At that time, he was still drinking a bottle before taking a nap, and they had the wrong milk in his bottle, so instead of being given 250, 300 milliliters of rice milk, he was just a glass. The milk was shy about the cup. “

“At that time, childcare … suddenly realized that he had given him something wrong and hesitated to Epipen. No one gave him Epipen and an ambulance was called.

Ms. McLean said the guidelines would make a big difference in the lives of both parents and children with allergies, such as Lincoln, who is now five years old.

“Training is the key,” she said. “Something can always slip through the gap, so you want people to be prepared and understand how to deal with the situation, rather than not being aware of it.

“Being able to recognize the signs of anaphylaxis is a better approach in our situation, rather than potentially not considering it.

“The whole idea of ​​joining the community and being able to join the community will be great.

“”We sent him out to the world, experienced everything with the innocence of 5 years old, discovered the “what if” scenario without worrying or worrying, and some confidence that they washed their hands. It got worse. “

“The van doesn’t work”

Maria Said, Co-Chair of the National Allergy Strategy and Chief Executive Officer of Allergy and Anaphylaxis Australia, said the national strategy was to support the implementation of various strategies to mitigate risk, from a total ban on food in schools. I explained that I recommend the migration of.

“The ban doesn’t work. When people focus on the ban, [it] You can’t call the police. “

“As my own parents, in the 1990s we didn’t want to see these foods on the surface of the earth, but that’s not the reality — [the] In reality, these foods will come in.

This strategy has been developed over the last two years in collaboration with key stakeholder organizations, staff working in this sector, and parents and guardians.

Its best practice guidelines are aimed at preventing and managing anaphylaxis in school and care environments, and instead employ an “allergy-aware” approach that focuses on risk minimization strategies.

There are 10 key principles that underpin a broader national strategy to reduce the risk of anaphylaxis in school and childcare environments, including having an anaphylaxis management policy and raising the awareness of staff of children at risk of allergic reactions. ..

The strategy also focuses on providing age-appropriate education for children with allergies and communicating to staff and the wider school and childcare communities how to manage anaphylaxis.

World’s first strategy

One potential measure the strategy recommends at school is to create special zones for eating and preparing certain foods to reduce exposure.

“Especially for very young children, we can take steps to ensure that nasty foods such as grated cheese and eggs are eaten at a different table than children who may have certain allergies.” Dr. Joshi said.

“So I think we really need to see real-world tools, and this is what these guidelines do.”

Saeed said the strategy was the first in the world.

“This not only improves the care of children and teens at risk for anaphylaxis, but also improves the safety of staff, school and childcare workers,” she says.

A complete national allergy strategy, Allergy-friendly website..