Alternative Health Blog

Sometimes the best health moves are the simplest ones. A new survey conducted by researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston shows that parents who attend children’s food allergy care workshops report feeling “less burdened” and more confident about handing the condition.

Perhaps the best outcome is that a confident parent can pass on self-assurance to the child. When Mom or Dad are not stressed out, the kids follow that lead, says Dr. Jennifer LeBovidge, a physician at Children’s Hospital Boston. Among other skills, the workshop leaders instructed parents how to not show their anxieties about the allergies while taking such empowering steps as knowing how to effectively inform neighbors, parents of kids’ friends, relatives, school officials and others about food allergies.

Of course, the workshops also helped parents learn how to better communicate food allergy issues with the children themselves. It might seem like common sense, all of us need refresher courses as parents—even if we don’t take the time for it.

The foods covered in the workshops included nuts, eggs, milk and shellfish. Health educators ran through the many scenarios of how a child might be exposed to an allergen food, especially instances that are less obvious. Those hidden dangers are what scares most parents.

True to its mission, Children’s Hospital Boston invited kids to attend the workshops with parents. For purposes of the study, which was published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, researchers focused on 61 boys and girls 5 to 7 years old and their parents.

The children most enjoyed meeting other youngsters who faced food allergies.  A close second was playing games and creating artwork that were designed to be fun yet help the kids express fears and frustrations. Plus, the kids also learned which foods or types of eating situations might present the most hazard to them.

The workshops were half-day in length. While parents formed one workshop group, the kids were convened in another. Nearly three-fourths of those kids had already experienced a severe allergic reaction or anaphylaxis in their young life. So it is even more impressive that parents and children in the study reduced food allergy stress and fear.

To measure stress, fear and confidence levels, the researchers administered questionnaires that scored parents and kids on competence and emotional burden indexes. The positive results suggest that taking time to consider how health issues affect us emotionally is a proactive step in the right direction, whether in a structured workshop or perhaps during informal but purposeful conversations with loved ones.

Information is power and so is recognizing that stress affects how we cope. 

Bob Condor blogs for Alternative Health Journal every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.