The Wonder of a Teen’s First Dance

This weekend was a very exciting time for my allergic teen. Friday was her 8th grade dance which also happens to be her very first dance. It was been fun watching the excitement and wonder of picking out a brand new dress to wear and then choosing the right shoes to go with her outfit. She really rocked those She cool matching eyelet Keds® sneakers.  A girl has got to be comfortable!

Her dance was a big affair beginning with pictures at a friend's house and then off to the 60's themed dance which included a DJ and a photo booth. After the dance, my teen and her friends went back to another friend's house for pizza, munchies and ice cream. They spent the next couple of hours exchanging stories about who they danced with and what songs they liked the most.

What made this special for my teen was that not once did she feel left out because of her food allergies. Since I knew this was so important to her, I made sure she had a vegan pizza from the Whole Foods pizza menu to be ready for her when she got back from the dance. The host then provided some dairy-free, coconut milk ice cream from So Delicious and dairy-free chocolate sauce. Since the host's family was vegetarian and the Mom was vegan, she had someone else to share her food with. For my allergic teen, what mattered most was that not only did she feel special on her special night but that it was important for her to feel like any other teen her age, just normal.

Colleges Have Become More In Tune With Allergies

When my sister went away to college, back in the late 70’s, there was very little awareness of food allergies. In fact, she did not even know anyone else, besides our mother, with severe food allergies. Back then, when you walked into the Dining Hall, there was no special menu for gluten-free or vegetarian options like they have today. They offered only a few general options and nothing for dietary restrictions.

Today, this has all changed with the rise in the number of children with severe food allergies and celiac disease. According to recent research by Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE), food allergies affect 1 in every 13 children (under 18 years of age) in the United States. Now, think about how many of these kids will want to go on to college. That’s a lot of kids!

This week, my son and I went on a college tour at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. This was just one of the many college visits we have had over the past year, so we have heard about and sampled some of the food services available to the students. Some were good, some were not so good. What struck me the most was that UW-Madison mentioned special food options for those who have celiac or are vegetarian or vegan. While other schools may have these options available, they did not seem to place much emphasis on special dietary needs.

On April 6, 2015 FARE announced a launch of a pilot program “Pilot Guidelines for Managing Food Allergies in Higher Education” that will provide colleges and universities with guidelines and resources for providing students with food allergies a safer college experience. FARE has chosen 12 schools to participate in this pilot program. In addition, FARE will be providing training for staff in dining and residential life facilities. A list of the participating colleges can be found here.

  

Three years from now, our college search for our allergic daughter will be very different than the search we had for our son. We will need to make sure she will have a great college experience, but we will also need to feel confident that she will have safe food options available to her. I know this is a tall order for most colleges, but I am hopeful that in four years there will be more awareness for these kids with allergies. Thank you FARE and the participating colleges for taking a step in the right direction in making sure our allergic teens can have a safe and rewarding experience in college.