Working Together with
Your Child’s School, Gluten-free School Meals
Every level of school, from pre-school to college offers food as some
part of their daily routine. However, regardless of your child’s grade
in school or his or her age, helping the school to find gluten-free
(Bringdienst)
school meals is a responsible parent’s duty. Some
schools are more gluten-free conscious then others; some districts don’t
have time to plan meals for one or two children with gluten problems.
Here are a few tips to help you keep your child from gluten exposure at
school.
Always make appointments – like with any professional business,
administrators and lunchroom supervisors have busy schedules. It is
important to make and keep appointments with them to speak about your
child’s need for gluten-free school meals.
Be prepared – bring along a list of sample lunches you have been
preparing at home and perhaps a
recipie regarding gluten-free meals.
And it’s a good idea to bring:
A letter from the doctor – a letter from your child’s pediatrician or
gastroenterologist (GI) to confirm your child’s medical condition and
need of a gluten-free school meal. If the doctor is willing, have him or
her outline a simple example of a gluten-free school meal plan for a few
days to give the lunch staff some ideas.
Create a written plan – together with essential school personnel such as
the school nurses, lunch personnel and teachers, everywhere there might
be food involved. Be sure to cover all possible situations where a
gluten-free school meal would be beneficial to your child. Be prepared
to update and go over the plan as needed.
Name a school official (or team) to make sure your child is safe –
depending on the age of your child and if you have included him or her
in the process of knowing what is gluten-free and what is not, there
should be one person or a team of people at the school who make sure
your child stays away from anything but gluten-free school meals. If the
school has several children who are allergic to a variety of things,
then someone should already be in place to monitor the children.
Allow your child to control his or her diet – even if they are young
children, put the choices in front of them and allow them to choose. Of
course you have first picked only the gluten-free varieties of snacks or
lunch fixing, but if they don’t start to take charge of their diets,
their diets will control them.
Bring emergency snacks – bring a bag of miniature candies, ones your
child will eat, and have the teacher put them away someplace until there
are parties or other reasons for snacks. This way, your child will have
something to eat while the rest of the class maybe enjoying a cupcake or
brownies.
If for some reason the school is less than accommodating, go to the
superintendent of schools or the board of education during an open
meeting to address the problem. Most states have a law that is designed
for students with allergies to receive special or gluten-free school
meals.
