By Dakota Vernezze, staff writer
Food allergies are common throughout students in the country. With an estimated 15 million Americans and one out of every 13 children under 18 having some sort of food allergy, are schools actually prepared to deal with these students?
A food allergy happens when the body has an immune response to certain foods, which can be severe and life threatening. In these situations, the immune system responds as if the food is harmful. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, eight foods or food groups account for 90 percent of serious allergic reactions in the United States. These foods include milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, wheat, soy, peanuts, and tree nuts.
While fish and shellfish aren’t a big concern here at Indian Trail High School & Academy, peanuts, milk, and gluten are another story.
“If someone has a peanut allergy, we have EpiPens here and we also have Benadryl on hand. Then we just call 9-1-1,” said Medical Assistant Joleen Rongholt, who works at Indian Trail.
If a student does have an allergy to certain foods, they usually bring their own food to school. Most students are smart and know to stay away from whatever they’re allergic to, and are responsible when watching out.
“I’m lactose intolerant,” said one Indian Trail student who requested anonymity. “I usually avoid anything dairy. There’s medicine out there but I don’t take it.”
If a student finds out that they do have an allergy, at least they’re not alone. Research done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claims that in 2006, about 88 percent of schools had one or more students with a food allergy.
“Some of them don’t know that’s what they have and they come in periodically with stomach issues and things like that and that kind of leads to the fact that they find out that they do have gluten allergies or lactose intolerance,” said Rongholt.
With no statewide guidelines for school food allergy management in Wisconsin, according to the Food Allergy Research & Education websites, students try their best to avoid an allergic reaction.
Communications junior Quaid Nichols has a peanut allergy, and he makes sure to check ingredients of products he doesn’t know the contents of.
“I feel pretty safe [in school],” said Nichols.