Parents and Schools: Joining Together to Make Food Allergy Management Work
July 16, 2009 Kyriaki (Sandy) Venetis 
Image courtesy of Chelsey Amer NutritionMaking sure students with food allergies are safe in schools is always a community effort, joining everyone together- parents, the allergic children, schoolmates, medical providers, school faculty, and public officials who make policy.
The greatest advocates though for allergic children must always be their parents. This was a key theme of the third and final session of the School Nutrition Foundation’s webinar series dealing with food allergies.
Parents are the ones who need to both inform everyone else about their children’s medical issues as well as become educated about what benefits their children are entitled to have.
Emphasizing this position was Deb Scherrrer, vice president of education programs at the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, who said, “The parents educate the school staff about the child’s medical condition. They collaborate with the school chain to establish avoidance strategies and participate in the development of the emergency plan.”