How to make schools safe for kids with celiac disease and food allergies is a topic of concern for some parents. You quickly learn that there is already a food allergy community and you’re child is part of it.
We know celiac disease isn't an allergy but this is the place to join forces with everyone concerned about safe food at school. These are all children affected by food restrictions that need to learn to advocate for themselves.
Each school has students and staff with celiac disease, food allergies or intolerances plus anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction. Rather than expect the school to handle food restrictions the way you think they should, find out how you can work together to make it better.
You're not the first parent to be concerned about safe food at school. Try to connect through the school administration, their website, at school parent meetings or by word of mouth. Your child may already have friends who also have food restrictions and there may be parents who want to help improve how food is handled at school.
How To Raise Awareness; Celiac, Asthma and Food Allergies
May is the month dedicated to raising awareness for celiac disease, food allergies and asthma; three topics near and dear to my heart. I’ve spent the past 30 years working as a health educator and 12 years involved at school advocating for health. My passion for food and volunteering with the celiac community continues to inspire me to share ideas and help increase awareness.
No matter how you’re involved at school you can help create a safer environment by increasing awareness. Many years ago our school had a Comprehensive School Health Committee and out of that came many ideas including a Food Allergy Club.
Tips To Manage School Events
Dealing with food at school events is not new. How ironic that parties meant to create community almost always involve food and therefore exclude the kids with food restrictions.
I’ve seen efforts to make gluten-free, dairy-free pancakes in a separate area only to have parents and students not eat them because they didn't know if it was really safe. Other parents keep their kids at home for a stress free breakfast guaranteed to be safe.
There are many ways to deal with food at school and they all revolve around education. Here are three ideas that promote awareness of food allergies.
- Get help from the school to find the children with food restrictions. Create a Food Allergy Club or group and organize for them to sit at a separate table. Have them all bring their own food, something special to them, and demonstrate that it can be done safely.
- Be bold and have the Food Allergy Club not eat. Agree to eat a good breakfast or special dinner at home that day and at school do a craft like making Food Allergy Survival kits. Do we really need food at every event?
- Host a booth with the Food Allergy Club kids at a table inviting others to come and ask questions. Help them create a list of questions to post so they get to discuss the topics that are important to them.
Ideas To Help Food Allergy Kids at School
Ask the kids what they want the other students to know about living with food restrictions. Keep the focus on awareness, not food. Implement as many ideas as possible to empower your kids to keep sharing their messages throughout the school year.
Here are some ideas I’ve seen.
- Post awareness signs related to healthy eating, top food allergies, anaphylaxis and use of an Epi-pen, celiac disease, cross contact, food bullying and mental health.
- Get free colouring pages related to food allergies and host a colouring contest.
- Use holidays and special awareness days to keep the enthusiasm going like Nutrition Month, Food Allergy Awareness Week, International Red Sneakers Day, Celiac Awareness Month, Food Bullying Awareness, Mental Health Week, and the Teal Pumpkin Project at Halloween. Learn about local awareness campaigns started by parents of families whose children died from eating unsafe food.
- Demonstrate how to use an epinephrine auto-injector using practice pens. They can be ordered online.
- Have fun making Food Allergy Survival Kits (instructions below).
PIN for later...
Creating your own Food Allergy Survival Kits is a fun activity that doesn't involve food. It also helps kids get talking about what's hard being a kid with food restrictions.
The photo above is the kit I made for our Celiac Kids Meetup group one year. I included a card with information about celiac disease but this idea can be tweaked to be whatever your group wants. Share the idea with kids and you’ll be amazed to see what they create.
K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple & Safe)
Change can be painfully slow. Based on my 12 years of experience with schools as a parent and a school council member, here’s my advice.
- Set realistic goals and when you get frustrated lower your expectations. Education isn’t an event, it’s a lifelong process. We all learn in different ways and only when we’re ready.
- Focus on the food allergy kids and their experience at school, not on food. Be a role model and resist the urge to prove to the entire school what we already know; gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free cupcakes can be delicious.
6 Ideas To Increase Awareness At School
- Learn what school policies exist and help improve them. Create and implement new policies where appropriate. Ask parents what they think the school community should know about food allergies.
- Advocate for a page on the school website to post information and links.
- Ask the principal to include a single slide or comment about food allergies and school policies at every presentation to parents, students and staff.
- Implement a system of reporting and dealing with food allergy incidents at school. Focus on learning from mistakes rather than embarrassing teachers or parents who didn’t know Honey Nut Cheerios have nuts or that Rice Krispies aren’t gluten free.
- Share stories. Sadly there are many examples of children who died from unsafe food at school. In Ontario, Canada Sabrina’s Law was created to help schools understand and deal with food allergies following the death of 13 year-old Sabrina Shannon. These stories honour the families and are very impactful.
- International Red Sneaker Day brings awareness to food allergies after 11 year-old Oakley Debbs suffered a fatal reaction to peanut at school in Florida. Do some research and participate in awareness events like these.
Resources For Food Allergy Awareness
Don’t reinvent the wheel, find existing resources and use them. Here are some I know of.
- Allergic Living has toolkits and so much more, I can’t say enough good things about them. They have a Food Allergy Anxiety Guide you can purchase for under $10.
- Food Allergy Canada, formerly Anaphylaxis Canada, has resources for schools.
- Order free practice epinephrine auto-injectors and other resources for schools in Canada at Epi Pen.
- Check out TurnItTeal.org to learn about The Teal Pumpkin Project. Find out why buildings all over the world are lit up in different colours for Celiac Awareness Day and Food Allergy Awareness Week in the month of May.
Kids are smart and most of them eat a few times a day. Whether they start a Food Allergy Club or simply post signs around the school that’s increasing awareness. Every action counts, no matter how small, to create a better future and safer schools.
I'd love to hear stories or see pictures on this topic. Share them in the comments below, we’re all in this together.
Originally posted 2015, updated May 2023
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