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Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Trees vs. Children:are nut allergies taking over the plannet?

Warning: It is definitely slanted against kids with allergies.

4 comments:

Jamie said...

i've actually read this article recently and don't find it that offensive...if the kid was allergic to the particular nut that the tree produced, then it's a health hazard BUT people do "make up" other allergies when their children have one major one (i did it with strawberries and orange juice)...so the question is where do u draw the line...it is a tough argument...

sajmom said...

Good, glad I didn't offend you! Yeah, on one hand, it seems rediculous to go to those lengths just for a school snack for a child who doesn't associate with the child who has the allergy. On the other hand-how would that parent(and their child) feel if something happens and the allergic child dies or has an attack. I'm guessing the solution has to be about making more people aware of how serious it can potentially be. Then less people feel the need to cry wolf. And more people would be looking out for the kids.

Star-Crossed Pimp said...

Yeah, make people more aware and also educate people better on how allergies REALLY work and what the realistic risks are, and what's actually just neurotic. Do many people know what that article explained about allergies? It was news to me.

Jamie said...

and also on the same note, (i try to check myself on this alot) is that if you, for lack of a better phrase, make your child live in a "bubble," they will grow up paranoid. i know a woman to tells her kids that everything "bad" for them has peanuts in it...like chocolate candy and such, just b/c she doesnt want them to eat it. i disagree with this approach. peanut allergic people CAN eat chocolate but only chocolate produced in special nut-free facilities, and there are several out there.

don't get me wrong, it is important to keep your child safe from food that can and will kill them but they also need to grow up living in reality. you can be safe and not be neurotic about it.

my plan is to let jonathan eat the safe chocolate candy on special holidays (kinda like what they did back in the day, when kids didnt eat candy bars everyday)...mainly b/c it will teach him that some stuff is safe but most of it should be avoided...and partly b/c the special stuff is just plain expensive!! :-)