Hip Hip Hooray for Northwestern University

College makes effort for athletic events to be Peanut Allergy Friendly

As the father of a daughter with a severe, life-threatening peanut food allergy, when I observe an organization make an effort to accommodate people with this affliction I want to give them a public acknowledgement of gratitude because our family has been excluded plenty of times from activities and events due to dangers presented by food allergies.  For the 2014/15 school year, the Northwestern University athletic department will have an official Peanut/Tree Nut (PTN) program.  Forty Wildcat sporting events, including 3 football games, 10 men's basketball games, 6 women's basketball games, 18 volleyball matches and 3 wrestling matches will enforce a peanut/tree nut free environment.  During these events, which include football games versus Cal, Northern Illinois, and Western Illinois, no products containing peanuts or tree nuts will be sold at Ryan Field or Welsh-Ryan Arena.  Both venues will undergo extensive cleaning to ensure no peanut or tree nut materials remain anywhere in the facility.

Mike Polisky

According to Mike Polisky, Deputy Director of Athletics - External Affairs at Northwestern University, in an interview with FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) the school located in the suburban Chicago area city of Evanston, Illinois began investigating doing something to address the exclusion of fans from sporting events due to food allergies after being contacted by the father of a current student.  The father communicated frustration about how his son wouldn't be able to attend football or basketball games because of allergy concerns. "After doing our research and coming to a better understanding of the impact of tree nut and peanut allergies on tens of thousands of people who cannot participate, it made sense to take the next step, said Polisky.  "We decided to break up our seasons to create more opportunities for families to attend Northwestern games in a safe environment."  Now the non-conference games will be peanut/tree nut free and the Big Ten inter-league competitions will allow them.

 In an interview with ESPN, Polisky noted "We just wanted to do the right thing.  This has nothing to do with PR. It's not a business decision...It started out with one father looking out for his son."  He added "It's great for kids' families to be able to attend these games that couldn't participate in things others take for granted."

Northwestern University becomes the first university in the United States to address food allergies at sporting events.  When asked on his thoughts about Northwestern's stance, John Lehr, chief executive officer of FARE stated "We are pleased to see sports teams across the country working to address these issues and we congratulate Northwestern on leading the way in college sports to help ensure families who are managing peanut and tree nut allergies feel welcome." He also noted "attending college sports games is often a family tradition, but for many families managing peanut and tree-nut allergies, the widespread sale and consumption of products with peanuts and tree nuts at athletic events is a deterrent."  According to FARE's website, www.foodallergy.org, the number of children with food allergies to peanuts and tree nuts tripled between 1997 - 2008.

Northwestern also issued a statement regarding its new food allergy policy from Dr. Ruchi Gupta, an associate professor of pediatrics with Northwestern Medicine.  "Now families with nut allergies can enjoy Northwestern University football, basketball and other games worry free," Gupta remarked.  "On the science side, researchers at the Northwestern Food Allergy Research Consortium are working to better understand the cause of food allergy and find treatments."

Giacalone

While I've unfortunately encountered many people who make light of the seriousness of peanut allergies, I've experienced the dangers first hand as I watched my infant daughter surrounded by doctors and nurses in an emergency room cube working to open her swelled shut throat after she'd eaten peanut butter for the first time.  A woman who lives a few miles from our house is still in a coma after she ate ice cream last year that had a peanut covered pretzel in it she wasn't aware of.  Chantel Giacalone went into cardiac arrest and has yet to recover from the incident.  Last year a college freshman , Cameron Fitzpatrick, and 13 year old girl , Natalie Giorgi, both died after accidentally eating food that contained or was contaminated by peanuts.  Food allergies are a serious problem, and a very scary and lonely one, for people who suffer from them and their families.  Helping taking precautions to protect people with peanut allergies shouldn't be considered as taking a freedom away from others but rather as being courteous to others who are suffering from an affliction that they did nothing themselves to cause.  It also shouldn't be about numbers and percentages of the population who actually suffer from allergies to determine whether or not to take action on this topic but rather placing a focus on respecting every human life so that no person  is injured or dies from an incident that could very well have been prevented by some proactive accommodation or safety measure.

Fitzpatrick

Giorgi

If you haven't had an experience before with someone with a peanut or tree nut allergy, I hope this article provided some useful information and insights.   Please be considerate ... way too many people unfortunately aren't.  For more information, visit www.foodallergy.org. 

THE CUPCAKE CONUNDRUM

I'm coaching my second season of youth soccer this Spring and have to admit that my feelings were a little hurt when the parents of one of the players from last season specifically asked the league to place their child on another team.  I worried they felt their child hadn't played enough, I'd done something to offend them, or they thought I was a bad coach.  Fortunately, none of those are the case.  The real reason they demanded a change though has left me somewhat perplexed.

The parents' requested the move because of my team's snack policy.  Each game a player is responsible to bring a team snack to help keep the kids energized and focused during half-time.  To keep it simple for parents, plus safe and healthy for the players, I've established a rule that the snacks need to be either sliced apples or oranges along with either water or juice boxes for the team.  Severe food allergies are a growing problem with children, my daughter who plays on the team can't eat or be exposed to peanuts for example, and there are plenty of other dietary restrictions that may be based on medical, religious, or parenting preference reasons.  Childhood obesity is also a growing problem in our nation that had an impact on my decision.   

The child that was pulled from my team had been upset because the player had noticed other teams enjoying cookies, candy, doughnuts, and cup cakes as snacks during the games.  To appease their child the parents choose junk food over healthy snacks.  I  respect those parents prerogative to make that decision for their child though I completely disagree with it.  On the other hand, allowing a child to easily switch a team though because they don't like the snack time treats provided really is a horrible precedent for a youth sports organization to set. 

According to Sally Kuzemchak R.D. in a 2013 article for Parenting Magazine, childhood snacking has become an "epidemic" with kids sports becoming "overrun with chips, cookies and other snacks being served from the sidelines." She cites research from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health that demonstrates how snacking can have an adverse impact even on active kids participating in sports.  These researchers found that "an 8 year old burns about 150 calories in an average soccer game - yet the typical postgame snack has between 300 and 500 calories." In her article Kuzemchak interviews one of the researchers, Toben Nelson, Sc.D. who says "It's so strange that sports have become associated with sweets...are parents are practically competing with each other to see who can bring the 'best' snack."

Some people may say it is just about FUN and snacks are part of the game time fun.  I wonder though why people need to associate food with fun.  Kids can have fun without eating a snack.  In fact, increasing the number of snacks , even if they are just small ones, may be contributing to obesity with  children.  Kuzemchak points out in her Parenting Magazine article that according to research from both Harvard and Columbia universities "childhood obesity is driven by as little as 165 extra calories for kids ages 2 to 7." 

According the the United States Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)  has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents during the past 30 years (that would be from the time I was a 10 year old "kid" myself playing soccer and our only snacks were apple and orange slices during games).  According to the CDC, 70% of obese youth had at least one risk of cardiovascular disease, and were more likely to have prediabetes, bone & joint problems, sleep apnea, and social/psychological problems.  The CDC's best recommendation for countering obesity in youth: Healthy lifestyle habits, including physical activity and HEALTHY EATING.

Another issue to be concerned about as a coach and parent when it comes to game snacks are children with food allergies.  I know that problem unfortunately too well myself from our family's struggles with our daughters life-threatening food allergies [The Scariest Moment of My Life: The Day my Daughter went into Anaphylactic Shock]  The CDC acknowledges that food allergies is a growing food safety and public health concern for children in the United States.  They've provided guidelines for how schools should deal with food allergies that I believe youth sports leagues and coaches should be familiar with as well.  CLICK HERE to view these CDC guidelines.  Limiting the types of snacks at sporting games not only addresses obesity issues but food allergy safety ones as well.

I believe in my snack policy and don't plan to abandon it as long as I'm the one volunteering my valuable time at games and practices to coach and mentor these kids.  I just hope that my team doesn't abandon me to go play on other teams that provide them with sweet treats.

So what is your opinion on the Cupcake Conundrum?  As parents and coaches should we make a more concerted effort to enforce healthy snacks with the teams our kids play on or is snacking on cookies and cakes a childhood ritual that players should be able to enjoy?