The municipality of Östersund has reacted to the fact that more and more children need special diets at school, something that has consequences both for the school staff and the children’s health. As a solution to the problem, allergy certificates were requested from the children. This caused the need for special diets to decrease considerably, which P4 Jamtland was the first to report on.
And having stricter rules regarding which school children are granted special diets and which are not, is something that allergist and pediatrician Catrin Holgén is positive about.
– We noticed that a lot of people wrote that they need a special diet because they are self-diagnosing and want to eat something different. But in a special kitchen, food is prepared where there must not be even the smallest speck of dust of a substance to protect those with extreme allergies.
The fact that children who are not allergic eat special diets also leads to extra work for the schools.
– Then it is a question of resources. Preparing food in a special kitchen is time-consuming, it requires more staff and resources.
Advice to parents: “Don’t mix it yourself”
Catrin Holgén feels that more and more people in society are eating special diets, which is not always based on a diagnosis from the healthcare system.
– I think there is inflation in having a special diet. People draw their own conclusions. We have ended up a little crazy in Sweden.
And there is a risk that those who really need special diets are forgotten.
– The most important thing is to protect the children who are very allergic. They need to get food that is prepared in their own kitchens and it is served in their own canteens where there have been no other ladles. There should be a few, not lots of children. It’s about patient safety.
As a parent, serving your child a special diet, when there is no actual allergy in the picture, can also be harmful for the child.
– If you put a growing child on a special diet, a dietitian’s support is needed to make the food sufficiently nutritious. You shouldn’t tinker with that yourself.
The risks of special diets – worse quality of life than cancer and diabetes
And there are other health risks for children on special diets.
– There is quality of life research where different diagnoses are compared. People with food allergies experience a poor quality of life. You feel alienated, you cannot go to parties or cafes without needing special adaptation. You can’t eat everything that everyone else does, says Catrin Holgén.
She continues:
– One might think that those with cancer or diabetes have a worse quality of life, but food allergies and special diets rank poorly in quality of life estimates.
Catrin Holgén believes that it is important to seek care if you as a parent suspect that your child may need to eat a special diet.
– If you feel that the child is getting sick from the food, it could be another illness that needs to be investigated. You need to start by contacting the health center.
But she also advises parents to take other things into account and not put too much focus on food.
– If you still feel that you have problems but no allergy diagnosis, then you can think about whether it is something else. It can be difficult things in life that cause you to get a stomach ache, for example.