Eating Home Prepared Lunches At School

[kaiess]

First of all I'm new here, trying to learn as much as possible prior to my son's imminent diagnosis (in my opinion). I have a question regarding him (he's 9) eating his lunch at school. They do not offer lunches at school but kids are welcome to bring lunches from home and eat in their classrooms at lunch time. My concern will be the crumbs all over the place after lunch. Do I have to worry about this or is this more of an issue for Celiac's with extreme sensitivity to gluten? My son currently has no symptoms that I know of other than gassy stools that sound full of air when he goes. He has type 1 diabetes, had a TTG of 95 (normal under 20) one year ago, a negative scope 9 months ago, another TTG of 145 six months ago, he's positive for both genetic markers, and he has just had bloodwork done again for TTG but we don't know the results yet. They say if he's over 200 or goes higher they will want to re-scope and he'll likely have Celiac. Any help would be appreciated seeing I can't ask all other parents not to send their kids to school with sandwiches! Will cleaning all tables and chairs with bleach each and every lunch do the trick?

Thanks

Kathy, mom to Jakob, 9

[CeliacMom2008]

That's tough. I would be nervous if they use each other's desks a lot. If they stick to their own (and at 9 I doubt they're on the floor at all), then you're probably OK. My son's teacher last year used to make sure his desk wasn't touching other kids when there was food in the classroom. That way crumbs couldn't just be pushed onto his desk.

Good luck!

[dilettantesteph]

I think it might be a problem. Can they keep a desk for your son only to use so that it won't get crumbs on it? Does he move around classes a lot? My son (11) is extremely sensitive, but hasn't gotten badly glutened from crumbs. In his school they eat in the lunchroom and he uses his own tray to avoid crumbs. They do have an awful lot of pizza parties, donut parties etc, in classrooms and there must be crumbs everywhere, but it hasn't bothered him too much. Try to get him to wash his hands before eating and when he gets home. My son was throwing up 10 times a day before diagnosis, so he would probably show symptoms if the crumbs bothered him much.

At my son's next school they eat at their desks a lot more and I am concerned at how it might effect him. I am also interested in what others have to say about it.

[AMQmom]

Good question! My daughters - almost 8 and in 2nd grade and 4 and in an early education program for her speech (celiac related) are sensitive. I have started to have them pack cloth placemats that I wash - a clean one every day. They place their food on the pacemats (and their lunchboxes on the placemats). This seems to be doing the trick both for physical and mental health for them. My 8 year old is a lot less worried. My 4 year old has severe physical symptoms when she is glutened - she had them daily last year. This year, I packed and labeled a small plastic box with their own school supplies in them and she has not gotten sick once. When there is food in the classroom, gluten can get on pens and pencils and scissors, etc. I just supply them with their own clean stuff. It has been amazing how much better this year has gone. I also throw a bit of gluten-free soap in their bins so they can safely wash before eating. Their teachers have been notified that they must let the kids wash before putting anything near their mouths. All had gone smoothly. Feel free to contact me if you want more info. Yes, it makes the kids stand out from the other students. My little one is used to it already and my older daughter was diagnose at the end of 1st grade. She had the idea to take her book "Eating Gluten Free With Emily" into school and having the teacher read it to the class. Now the kids totally get it. Her school has even booked Kyle Dine from Canada to do an allergy awareness program in May (he also has a gluten free song). If you get everyone involved, the kids feel fine about themselves. My piece of advice - empower the child, encourage your child to be able to take care of himself by making it as easy as possible for him to function - healthily (is that even a word?) Sorry to ramble....

[AMQmom]

oooh - one more thing. I understand that only scrubbing with soap and water removes gluten...not bleach. Really scrubbing.....

[kaiess]

WOW!!! OMG! All the things we'll have to think of. I would have never thought soap had gluten in it. I guess I better learn a whole lot more YIKES. Thanks for all the feedback and tips.

Kathy

[mstroud]

I've been worried about my 8 year old son being exposed to gluten at school. I think the idea of asking your son's desk be off limits to other kids / gluten food is a good idea. I asked my son's teacher to do that recently after he said there had been crumbs on it after classroom parties. He knows to ask his teacher to clean it off if he's worried or to use a towel and then wash his hands well.

For his lunch, I bought a few of the 'wrap n mats' which wrap sandwiches and then unfold to form a placemat. They're supposed to be great for reducing the amount of sandwich bags used, but they also provide a gluten free spot for his lunch in the lunch room!

Good luck! I know you're anxious to hear back about his test results!

Margaret