Food Allergy Documentary on Discovery Channel

On September 7, FARE (Food Allergy Research and Education) and the Discovery Channel debuted a new documentary about food allergies called “An Emerging Epidemic: Food Allergies in America.” This hour-long documentary was narrated by Steve Carell and showed several families and individuals who are coping with severe food allergies and what it is like to live with life-threatening food allergies. Also mentioned were some of the new research and clinical trials going on today. Did you know that food allergies affect every 1 in 13 kids in American and that food allergies have increased 50% since 1997?

Even though it is an hour long segment, I think it is worth watching. I thought the documentary was very well done especially for those skeptic individuals who do not understand how scary it can be for the child and parents affected by life threatening allergies. Some of the stories really bring home the severity of their unique situations. I'm also glad the documentary chose to highlight several severely allergic teenagers because of the unique circumstances they face and how hard it is the older and more independent they get. One teenage girl has such a long list of allergies that she has only been out to a restaurant a dozen times and only with her family but was thrilled when they finally found a restaurant she could go to with her boyfriend.

I was happy to hear that of the kids highlighted, they all seem to have a sense of ownership when it comes to their allergies, even the young ones. While they know their allergies can be life threatening, they don't want them (allergies) defining who they are and what they can do. Some of their comments included:

"I'm not going to let a food allergy hold me down."

"There's always another solution."

"I don't let it define me."

I think our allergic kids are very special indeed and much more grown up then we ever were!

If you missed it last Saturday but missed out, it will air again on Saturday, September 21 at 8 a.m. ET/PT or you could watch it they way I did, online at http://www.discoverychannelcme.com/patient-education/food-allergies or available for download on iTunes.