When dropping Lilly, Queen of the Universe, off at school yesterday I noticed a sign on one of classrooms that said “Peanut Free Space.” According to her after-school day care providers, 4 of the kids have epi-pens just in case they come in contact with peanut products.
If it had not been for peanut butter when I was young, I may very well have starved. EVERYBODY and their brother ate peanut butter and I never heard of anyone being allergic to peanuts.
Is it just that dr’s are more on the lookout for peanut allergies, or have we mutated into some weird kind of creature that can’t enjoy a PB&J with a cold glass of chocolate milk?
Maybe people that are allergic to PB are now more likely to survive (both through avoidance and treatment for allergy attacks) to adulthood and have children that also have allergies? Just a thought.
A related trend in the supposed increase in the number of kids with asthma. As Cecil’s article, states, one theory is that modern day American households are too clean and don’t let kids develop an effective immune system. Their immune system overeacts to peanuts and airborne allergens for some reason.
Maybe, but then, why specifically peanuts? Peanuts allergies are pretty rare over here, where peanuts butter is an exotic food most people wouldn’t even know exist. Couldn’t the fact that kids in the USA eat peanuts in large quantities and from an early age be a factor?
I’m allergic. It sucks. I don’t know if it is becoming more common, but I think people are becoming more aware of it. I love how most foods now have a little blurb after the ingredients that say what allergens are in the product. It makes my life much easier. Lawsuits could have led to that development.
Kid eats a peanut-butter sandwich, and gets sick. Parents/teachers/lunchroom volunteers conclude “Oh, no, he’s allergic to peanuts!”. Next day, parents pack the kid a baloney sandwich. Kid gets sick again. “Oh, no, his allergy is worse than we thought! He must be having contact with some other kid’s lunch, and that’s enough to set him off!”. The day after that, he gets a baloney sandwich, and he sits in a different part of the lunchroom. Still gets sick. “Oh, this is terrible! Even the smell of peanuts in the cafeteria is enough to set him off!”. And so it goes.
Meanwhile, everyone’s oblivious to the poor kid’s wheat allergy, even though it’s actually more common than a peanut allergy.
The idea that the incidence of peanut allergies has significantly increased is debatable. But there’s certainly been an upsurge in activism among Militant Moms, who are responsible for restrictions on bringing peanuts into school, moves to ban peanuts on airlines etc.
Hang out on an allergy message board for awhile; it’s an eye-opener. Some of these moms are convinced that even the smell of peanuts could send their child into fatal anaphylaxis*. In some cases, you wonder if the near-hysterical overprotectiveness of the parent is responsible for the reported “reactions” (small child eats a bit of forbidden food, sees Mom hyperventilating and anxiously quizzing him about symptoms - not surprising he’d have complaints).
*if such sensitivity exists at all, it is beyond freakishly rare.
Peanut allergies are not an overreaction: they’re real. I think I remember reading something about pregnant mothers eating a LOT of peanut butter somehow triggered the allergy in the fetus. Anyone else read about this one? Let’s face it peanut butter is still a staple in a lot of soon-to-be mothers’ diets, and it certainly wnever used to be a generation ago.
I spent a couple of days this past weekend with my sister’s family. Her 5-year old has just started kindergarten, and one of his classmates has a “life-threatening” peanut allergy, according to his mother. My sister, who knows this woman well, having lived across the street from her for several years, believes that the poor kid has a few run-of-the-mill food allergies (including wheat gluten), but that his very worried, over-protective mother has built up in her mind into the type of condition that could cause anaphylaxis if the kid is in the same room as a single peanut. Apparently, on the first day of school, she came equipped with a tote bag full of epi pens, and flyers to pass out to the other parents letting them know about the situation.
Perhaps at least a couple of the four kids in the OP’s kid’s class have equally over-reactive mothers.
I assumed that it never used to be a staple because our family never (well, hardly ever) at the stuff. Up till now I assumed it was a generational thing. Now I realize that it may well be because I came to Canada, from Scotland, as a kid and we never ate the stuff because of our cultural background.
Am I wrong? Did expectant mothers really eat a lot of peanut butter in North America in the 50s, 60s and 70s?
I read an email message to my wife’s moms & tots group, reminding all the parents not to bring any peanut products to the next playgroup, because this lady’s kid has a severe peanut allergy, etc.
Then I found out more - the kid’s mom is the nut. This kid had been fed peanuts and peanut butter by other moms in the group with no reaction. We think the mom is trying to get attention in this pathetic little way. I wonder how much of the stuff you hear nowadays is due to this factor.
Absolutely. Allergies are particularly common when it comes to staple foods - wheat and peanuts in the United States, whereas allergies to rice are fairly common in Asia.
Oh my God.
It’s certainly the case that some mothers are overprotective or neurotic about these things. But sweet Jesus, what kind of person would decide to bet some little kid’s life on their mother being nuts? I’ve heard this story before in the news - only in that case, the kid died of their allergy. I just can’t imagine what kind of sick, twisted person would gamble with a kid’s life like that just to prove some kind of point to a kid’s mother.
Perhaps in the case CurtC relates, the other parents fed the kid peanuts before they knew that he was “allergic”? Or are you suggesting that we refrain from feeding any kid any food which might be an allergen?
Mix it with a little soy sauce and chili garlic sauce, then thin it down to a manageable consistency with water. Really good with chicken or tofu.
And don’t forget peanuts. People like my mom keep candy dishes of nuts out for people to snack on, and there are dishes like kung pao chicken, plus all the desserts, candy bars, and snack mixes that contain nuts, usually peanuts.
I was born in 1960 and my mother surely ate peanut butter while she was pregnant with me. She still likes a PB&J today (she is 65), as does my dad (who is 69). I ate peanut butter while pregnant with my kids – and I still eat it today. In fact, I had a PB&J for lunch (with a plum and glass of cold milk.) I don’t care for chocolate flavored cereal though.