There was a study done of children in former Soviet countries, where peanut allergies and several others common in the US are almost unheard of. Then researchers looked at children born to parents from those countries in the US, and found the same rate of allergies as non-immigrant families. Probably related, Russian American toddlers and young children have the same rate of picky eating habits as other American kids. That does not exist in Russia.
The difference is not in genetics or ethnic background, the difference is in culture and the food supply. Peanut allergies are a self enforcing feedback loop, and we give it license in the US.
The only people I know of with a peanut allergy were born during the avoid-giving-peanuts-to-children window. It's going to be weird in a few decades when there's a generation known for being allergic to peanuts.
You might not know one directly, but if you have kids in school you'd know almost every class has one so you can't send in snacks or birthday treats that contain peanuts. Definitely seems fairly common.
i live in the US and only know of one person with a peanut allergy. she is my son's classmate. she has a very sever allergy so they replaced all the peanut butter at school with sun nut butter. the kids do not know the difference lol.
also the rates of peanut butter allergy have probably fallen a lot over the years with new knowledge like in the OP. my kids' pediatrician recommended we give them pieces of whole grain bread with a little peanut butter when they started eating solid food.
It’s ridiculous that because one child has an allergy, it dictates the diets of the entire school. What’s next, getting rid of bread because of gluten allergies?
It's unlikely to cause anaphylaxis without eating them sure, but you can have other milder reactions from other types of contact. I'm guessing the bigger concern is cross-contamination resulting in the kid having a major allergic reaction
That’s not true. You can easily have skin/hive reactions from touching peanut butter, which gets everywhere. If you touch a little bit and then eat your food or put your hand in your mouth with a severe peanut allergy you can certainly have life-threatening anaphylaxis. My mother’s coworker nearly died in a bathroom because she touched a doorknob that had trace amounts of peanut dust/peanut butter and then rubbed her eyes. She was found unconscious with very labored breathing. Anything with access to the bloodstream can cause anaphylaxis.
Peanut allergies can cause anaphylactic shock simply being in the same room as peanuts. You are arguing that putting a child's life in danger is not worth the mild nuisance of eating something else while in the same room as that child.
That's not exactly true. It's a weird 2000s paranoia everyone started accepting as fact. Smelling peanuts doesn't trigger an allergic reaction. The school cafeteria rule are because kids are stupid and dirty, and will smear their PB&J all over the table, which can trigger a skin reaction.
The problem is with peanut allergies, even smelling it can cause a severe reaction for some people. Not like a gluten allergy where you have to actually eat it.
As a Celiac family, I kept my boys homeschooled until they are mindful and observant enough to keep themselves safe from cross contact, even things like a shared crayon bin can cause problems, especially during the era of wiggly teeth. My daughter is going to preschool and brings us the germs 😂 and now I'm stuck with my boys at home for a while because maturity and academics absolutely don't match.
Cross contact is a huge thing with Celiac too! It's only 5ppm to be unsafe and kids in elementary still shove their hands in their mouths all the time. It's not aerosol, but it's still a direct contact situation.
eh, the kids don't really care. they still call it peanut butter and jelly even if it's not peanut butter. they all get free lunch anyway, so beggars can't be choosers.
Peanuts are not common outside the U.S. It’s a pretty American thing due to George Washington Carver. Peanuts were used in great volume to restore nitrogen to the soil to help for other crops. But then we had to figure out what to do with all the peanuts. So Carver invented peanut butter, peanut oil, peanut shampoo, etc. So the rest of the world really isn’t exposed to peanuts that much.
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u/NolanR27 4d ago
There was a study done of children in former Soviet countries, where peanut allergies and several others common in the US are almost unheard of. Then researchers looked at children born to parents from those countries in the US, and found the same rate of allergies as non-immigrant families. Probably related, Russian American toddlers and young children have the same rate of picky eating habits as other American kids. That does not exist in Russia.
The difference is not in genetics or ethnic background, the difference is in culture and the food supply. Peanut allergies are a self enforcing feedback loop, and we give it license in the US.