PARK CITY — Pat Flynn never imagined life as an elementary school principal would mean so much time thinking about peanut butter sandwiches.
But these days, when a tiny peanut can cause a child to break into hives or even stop breathing, Flynn has no choice but to fret about what his students eat. In fact, Flynn's Trailside Elementary School in Park City is a nut-free zone, meaning no peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are allowed inside. There's even a nut-free table in the cafeteria as an extra precaution to accommodate the eight students who have severe nut allergies.
Some parents of the 500 children who attend the school think Flynn has gone too far, but he doesn't think so.
"It comes down to the safety of the kids," Flynn said. "And I don't care if it's one or eight."
Severe food allergies are a new problem for school districts across the state and the nation. The number of children with food allergies rose 18 percent between 1997 and 2007, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. And a total of 100,000 Utahns, including about 32,000 children in the state, have food allergies, which spur roughly 30,000 emergency room visits and up to 200 deaths per year in the United States, according to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network. And yet, many school districts have no food allergy policy at all. Others are scrambling to implement guidelines.
Alpine School Board approved its food allergy policy in early December. It encourages parents to fill out a form detailing their child's type and extent of allergy. School officials and parents then create a health plan that could be a nut-free cafeteria table, a sign on the classroom door or simply notes sent home to parents regarding classroom snacks.
For now, food allergy policies vary district to district. Granite School District has nut-free cafeteria tables. Davis School District manages the issue on a case by case basis and pays particular attention to washing tables and desks. Jordan School District doesn't serve any food products containing nuts. Later this school year, Park City School District will present a proposal to its school board.
Officials with the Utah Food Allergy Network would like to see more consistency between schools and districts. They are working on a proposal similar to the one Alpine School District implemented to present to the State Board of Education in 2010. And if state education leaders don't want to implement guidelines, network officials say they will take their proposal to state lawmakers.
Thanks to state legislation passed in 2008, Utah students are allowed to carry an "EpiPen" for an epinephrine injection at school when an allergic reaction occurs. The most severe reaction is called anaphylaxis, which could include difficulty breathing, vomiting and fainting or simply hives and itchiness. Food allergies account for 35 percent to 50 percent of all cases of anaphylaxis, according to the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology.
"Some kids could die within minutes," said Utah Food Allergy Network director Michelle Fogg. Her two children's allergies include peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, sunflower seeds, mustard seed and kiwi. They both carry EpiPens.
Federal legislation regarding students with food allergies and how schools should handle the situation has been in the works since 2007. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, is co-sponsoring The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act of 2009.
"This legislation allows schools — if they so choose — to develop voluntary guidelines that may help Utah families manage the risks posed by food allergies during the school day," Matheson told the Deseret News.
Fogg doesn't know why her children have allergies, and experts don't have an answer as to why allergies are increasing, either. Dr. Richard Hendershot, allergy specialist in Salt Lake City, says there is no known prevention or cure for food allergies.
"No one knows for sure what the answer is," he said.
But introducing a particular food to a child's diet earlier in life might reduce food allergies, according to a 2008 study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
The study compared Jewish school-age children in England and Israel. In England, where parents are advised to avoid peanuts during pregnancy, breastfeeding and infancy, 2 percent of the children were allergic. In Israel, parents begin feeding "biter biscuits" containing nuts to babies to help with teething. Only 0.2 percent of those children developed peanut allergies, according to the study.
For now, the only coping measures for parents are to help their child avoid the particular food. Guidelines in schools would help, parents say.
Kristiann Hampton, of American Fork, says four of her five children have allergies including eggs, almonds, peanuts and walnuts. She talks with her children's teachers each fall before school starts and they create a health plan together. The school has a nut-free table in the lunchroom, which is "very accommodating," she said.
Tillie Uribe, of West Jordan, has four children, two of whom have food allergies including nuts and soy. She says there used to be a nut-free table at Escalante Elementary School in Salt Lake City where she teaches first grade and where her children attend. Now the school cafeteria simply doesn't serve food with nut products. Workers sanitize the tables, which she feels is "pretty safe" for her kids.
Parleys Park Elementary School in Park City District has been nut free for 11 years with little controversy. The cafeteria doesn't serve foods containing nuts. Parents aren't allowed to send nut products in their children's lunches. There is a nut-free table in the cafeteria. Some Park City schools use Sun Butter created from sunflower seeds.
But when Trailside principal Flynn launched the nut-free policy at his school this fall, there was some push-back from parents.
"Most parents don't like being told what they can and can't do," Flynn said.
The principal points out parents can give their child a peanut butter sandwich as an after-school snack. And there is no research out there that says not eating a peanut butter sandwich for lunch will cause physical or emotional detriment, Flynn quipped.
Scott McJoynt, who has a first-grader at Trailside, said he isn't a fan of the whole school being nut-free but would be OK with a nut-free zone to protect children, such as the nut-free cafeteria table.
"I understand it's serious, but it's a minority taking over and enforcing their will on the rest of the entire school," McJoynt said.
The dad said he makes his child's lunch, and since the family is trying to avoid meat, he packs apple slices, grapes, yogurt, cheese and crackers. "One of the easiest foods for kids is peanut butter," he said. "Kids are picky eaters. They get a good source of protein from peanut butter."
One mother interviewed who has a child at Trailside points out life will not be nut-free when these students get out in the real world. She said her son comes home from school and gobbles peanut butter and jelly sandwiches because he doesn't like what's in his peanut-free lunch.
Park City District Superintendent Ray Timothy says maybe a nut-free school is extreme "but we prefer to err on the side of caution, rather than put these children's lives in jeopardy."
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