Is it Time for Schools to Change Peanut-Free Policies?

Peanuts have the dubious honour of sitting at or near the top of a list of eight high priority food allergens; the others are tree nuts, sesame seeds, milk, eggs, seafood, soy and wheat. Together they account for 90% of allergic reactions in American children. Policies restricting consumption of foods containing peanuts began to show up around the mid-1990s, due to concerns about severe reactions such as anaphylaxis. The focus has mainly been on peanuts and to some extent tree nuts, whether we are considering public health and school policies, media coverage, or changes in how products are marketed to the public.

Peanut free schools

School policies range in severity, from those that establish peanut-free or peanut-allowed zones to accommodate the greatest number of students, to those that prohibit all foods that may contain peanuts or tree nuts. These policies are based on the concern that an allergic student could accidentally be exposed to peanut protein (the component that triggers the allergic reaction) through touching a contaminated surface or by smelling a product made with peanut. Since avoidance is the main approach to dealing with food allergies at present, policies intended to protect children in schools, summer camps and other places kids congregate are based on helping affected kids to avoid peanuts.

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Photo: Zeeshan Qureshi (sxc.hu)

The Choking Game and Your Teen

The choking game is back. Do you know how to keep your kids safe?

"I saw Gabe with the rope around his neck and a math book on his lap. He was just sitting on the ground. And so I thought he was just joking and so I said Gabe, knock it off, or like quit messing around... I looked over at him and he hadn't moved. I said his name a couple of times," says a California mother of her son's experience with the choking game. Gabriel was rushed to hospital when his mother realized something was wrong. He died there 15 hours later.

What is the Choking Game?

The ultimate goal of the choking game - also known by names such as the fainting game, the scarf game or Space Monkey - is to get high. You may have tried it when you were younger, or had friends who talked about playing it. While there may be variations in how the game is played, there are two main components which can be used alone or combined together. The first is hyperventilation followed by holding the breath, the second is strangulation.

The games is most often played by children aged 9 to 14, and of those most are boys. For those who feel the high, the game is addictive. This might explain why they would play it alone, using belts, ropes or shoelaces to choke themselves despite the elevated risk of this solitary version of the game.

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