Food Allergies

Safe Nutritious Lunches for Kids with Food Allergies
By: Carol Fenster Ph.D.

Summers end means lunchboxes instead of sandboxes and the challenge of getting kids to eat nutritious lunches at school. This task becomes doubly challenging when kids have food allergies.

According to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network about 11 million people react to eight common foods including wheat dairy and eggsfoods that are usually in every kids lunch box in one form or another. Parents want to pack lunches that are safe yet they know that kids are more likely to eat whats in their lunchbox when they participate in planning its contents and if it contains food they like. Here are a few tips to assure that your foodsensitive child carries a safe nutritious lunch to school and that its eaten rather than traded or thrown away.

Tailor food to kids allergies. Having kids with food allergies precludes using many commercially prepared foods because they often contain the very food allergens youre trying to avoid. This means lunches rely more on fresh fruits and vegetables foods manufactured specifically for certain allergies and homemade dishes using acceptable substitutes for the offending foods.

For dairyaverse kids try individualserving boxes of rice milk or soy milk. Soy yogurts come packaged in individual serving cartons. Eggallergic kids can eat mockegg salad made from mashed white beans. Avoid soggy sandwiches by making tuna salad or egg salad and pack it in individual containers for spreading on bread or crackers at lunch time. For wheatsensitive kids put wheatfree bread or rice crackers in a separate bag to keep them from getting soggy. They can dip the crackers into the salad or make little cracker sandwiches. Or put corn tortillas or rice flour tortillas (available in natural food stores) in resealable bags and let kids make their own tortilla sandwiches or spread the salad on strips of torn tortillas.

For baked items look to cookbooks that show how to use substitutes for wheat dairy and eggs. Just about everything can be made without these common food culprits and the substitutes are often already in your pantry or readily available at a natural food store. Bread cookies cakes crackers and muffins can be made without wheat dairy and eggs. Its just a matter of knowing which substitute to use and how to use it. Special diet cookbooks spell out all these details for you.

If baking from scratch isnt possible check your natural food store for allergyfree mixes. Some allow you to tailor the ingredients to your needs by offering suggestions for appropriate substitutes.

Learn to read labels carefully and recognize the words that indicate your childs allergens. For example durum is actually wheat albumin means egg and casein is actually a type of milk protein.

Let kids choose between appropriate options. Provide a range of foods that are nutritious and then let kids choose between two options. For

example Would you like carrot sticks or celery strips with your sandwich today Or Do you want a banana today or would you prefer an apple

Involve kids in the lunch packing process. Even the youngest kids can help pack a lunch if the duties are geared to their physical and mental skills. They can wash grapes and put them in resealable bags or wrap aluminum foil around cookies or muffins. Even if theyre too little to be actively involved they can observe and talk about the lunch being assembled and feel some ownership over what goes into it.

Scale the food to kidsize. Smallersize foods seem less intimidating to young children and are easier to pick up with small hands. Carrot sticks should be thin enough to be safely chewed yet not so thick that they discourage biting and chewing. Apple slices should be thin; crackers and rice cakes should be the smaller sizes. For homebaked items consider baking muffins in minimuffin pans. Make cookies in bite sizes and bake cakes in miniature cupcake papers. For a little fun sandwiches can be cut into small squares or circles using cookie cutters.

Use appropriate lunchboxes and containers. A clever contemporary lunchbox that features a kids favorite character or theme makes carrying a lunch more fun. If lunchboxes arent possible use sturdy paper or plastic bags that wont tear. Kids can personalize these bags with crayons. Be sure to keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot with appropriate containers. Use small ice packs for food that must stay cold or freeze a box of juice and use it instead of an ice pack.

Consider leftovers as lunch. Cold pizza from last nights supper is just fine providing it is not packed with fat or preservatives and omits the childs food allergens. Yes even homemade pizza can be made without wheat dairy and eggs using recipes from special diet cookbooks. Leftover casseroles and soups can be carried in small thermos bottles.

Make your childs teacher an ally. Enlist the support and cooperation of your childs teacher by setting up a meeting to discuss your childs needs. Explain why your child must avoid certain allergens and what to do in case of accidental ingestion. Teachers can play a key role in managing food allergies at school so keep them informed and seek their input whenever possible.

Copyright by Carol Fenster Ph.D.

Carol Fenster PhD is the author of the new Cooking Free a cookbook for people who cant eat wheat dairy or eggs. She carried a lunchbox all through elementary school and is keenly interested in what her threeyearold grandson has in his lunchbox. Contact her at http://www.SavoryPalate.com where you will also find Food Allergy Field Guide a cookbook for kids who avoid wheat dairy eggs corn soy and peanuts.