A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report found food allergies in children increased 18 percent between 1997 and 2007.

By Kristin Holtz
Staff Writer

Eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is something most people take for granted.

But for 8-year-old Mak Lokken, that PB&J is similar to an injection of poison.

Like a growing number of U.S. children, Lokken is allergic to nuts and must take extra precautions to protect himself from peanut residue.

His mother, Gina, reads every label whether the family has eaten the product once or fifty times. She packs a school lunch every day and last year checked his classroom’s daily morning snack to ensure its safety — all in the name of protecting Mak from a life-threatening allergic reaction.

“It’s very difficult to live with it because everybody eats,” Gina Lokken said.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released this fall found food allergies in children increased 18 percent between 1997 and 2007.

The study, “Food Allergy Among U.S. Children: Trends in Prevalence and Hospitalizations,” found that nearly 4 percent of all U.S. children, approximately 3 million, have a food or digestive allergy.

Longtime Litchfield School nurse Janice Fawcett said food allergies have become a big issue the past five years; however, no one seems to know why.

Some researchers suggest that kids today are too clean and do not develop immune systems resistant to allergens and microbes. The “hygiene hypothesis” is also used as an explanation to the increase in asthma among children. Asthma and environmental allergies are more common in children with food allergies, according to the CDC.

Other studies have pointed to food processing methods. A 2001 study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology suggested that peanut processing methods, from boiling to roasting, has increased the allergen factor. More chemical processes and fewer nutrients in foods has also been connected to this theory.

Yet other doctors and scientists say an increased awareness of food allergies could be the main reason behind the statistical spike.

“I’m not sure there is any definitive answer to why they are increasing,” said Monica Neubauer, health services coordinator for the Hutchinson School District.

The most common food allergy among children are nut allergies, according to local school nurses. That’s why most area school districts stopped serving peanut butter in elementary school hot lunches. They have also cut out nuts and peanut oil.

Some elementary schools also sit children with food allergies at designated tables to keep them a safe distance from children who may have packed a peanut butter sandwich for cold lunch, said Fawcett who retired from Litchfield in December.

For non-nut allergies, the responsibility often falls to school cooks to ensure students are receiving safe meals, Fawcett said.

According to the CDC, the eight most common food allergies are milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy and wheat.

Hutchinson Food Service Director Bernie Reinke said the Hutchinson School District is currently working with its food distributor to develop a referencing system that catalogues ingredients. The system will give kitchen staff an easy way to look up what ingredients — including potential allergens — are in each product.

However, school cafeterias cannot provide alternatives to every meal offering. The sheer number and variety of allergies, intolerances and sensitivities make it difficult for schools to create individual food diets.

“I just think we are more aware of them and we try to help out wherever we can,” Reinke said.

Bryan and Susan Joedeman of Litchfield understand the pressures schools face. Their 6-year-old daughter, Emily, has several food allergies, including wheat, rye, barley, eggs, nuts, melons, peas and soy. Therefore, they forego hot lunch and pack a meal daily.

“There’s too many things she’s allergic too. They would not be able to make anything,” said Susan, adding Emily’s would be too expensive for schools to manage.

The Joedemans do work with the school, however, for other things like classroom treats or field trips. Joedeman said Emily’s teacher usually informs her ahead of time if classmates intend to bring treats, so that Joedeman can pack a safe cookie or cupcake and Emily doesn’t feel left out.

Hutchinson elementary school students with peanut allergies are placed in peanut-free classrooms where parents are informed of the designation and asked to bring only safe snacks if they send a treat for the class, Neubauer said. “We try to minimize that risk as much as possible.”

With the potential of more kids breaking into an allergic reaction, the presence of EpiPens in schools has also grown dramatically.

Today, EpiPens, which inject epinephrine into the blood system to treat anaphylactic shock, are located in nurse’s offices, kitchens and classrooms in case of a quick allergic reaction. Some students, especially high schoolers, carry the pens at all times. School staff receive training on how to use EpiPens, the nurses said.

“This is a disability that you can’t see, so some people don’t take it very seriously. But if you’ve ever seen an allergic reaction happening you would take it incredibly serious,” Lokken said.

“(Food) is supposed to nourish our bodies and be good for us, but for some reason, and we don’t yet know why, people with food allergies, their bodies perceive it as a poison,” she added.

Since Mak’s diagnosis at age 1 1/2, the Lokkens have educated him about his allergies. Now, at age 8, Mak is able to start monitoring his own food intake and knows not to accept any offered food, Lokken said.

Reinke said most kids with allergies are very aware of what they can and cannot eat.

“They have to live in the world, but they should know how to treat it when it happens,” Fawcett said.

Keeping kids safe is no one person’s job, especially in the school system. Parents and school officials agree that communication is the key to protecting kids from a potentially serious reaction.

“It really has to be a collaborative effort with the parents and the child and the food services and the nurse because we can’t do any of this by ourselves,” Reinke said.