A good week for studies of relevance to
lots of parents.
Not quite sure what to make of this but
according to a study (not yet published but which was presented at the annual
meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology) most
mothers of kids who were being treated for food allergies and who also claimed
to have food sensitivities themselves did not in fact meet any of the the
standard criteria for that self-diagnosis.
In other words, most parents of
food-allergic kids who think they are also suffering from a food allergy are
not.
They may have a a food sensitivity (for
which we have absolutely no tests or criteria so it’s impossible to prove or
disprove when someone says “Wheat makes me feel bad” or “Milk gives me a
headache, etc”) but they do not have full-blown allergies that we can detect
through objective tests.
Why might this matter?
Because seems to me that we have entered an
era in which (far too?) many parents are diagnosing their kids (and themselves)
with food-related problems, and then abandoning those foods both for
themselves, which is rarely a concern, but also for their kids, which can be a
concern because not only is that child deprived of something he or she may need
(and equally important) really like to eat, but equally important, they end up
carrying a label that will follow them for a long, long time, if not forever.
That said, as a person who has known about
his celiac disease for nearly 40 years (diagnosed, alas, with a small-bowel
biopsy), I know that we rely in our diets far too easily on the most
easily-accessible foods (white bread, pasta), et) and that there are just so
many other, equally nutritious, equally delicious foods now available to
someone who does have a true need to avoid certain foods.
