Cooking and kids

Teaching kids to cook makes them aware of what's in the food they are eating.  This is a pizza made by my nine-year-old.  The crust is flaxseed and the cheese is low lactose.  The sauce is organic while the pepperoni has no additives, preservatives.  The meat has no hormones or antibiotics.

He is getting so much better at reading labels on foods.  The ingredients matter, not just the labels.  That happened with learning to cook.  The pizza came from Wheat Belly, by William Davis, MD.  While not specific to celiacs the wheat free diet goes a long way in eliminating the gluten that damages so many who are sensitive to it.

Cooking is another fun activity with the kids, and it imparts insight into food realities.  I'm very proud of my son for stepping up.  He checks labels and ingredients, and now wants to cook more of his own food.

Healthy Summer Camps

It is almost time for kids to go to Summer Camp.  Working with schools to make sure your kids get treated well in regards to food sensitivity can be a challenge.  Trying to do the same thing for Summer Camp has similar obstacles.

Sometimes you have to start all over in many cases.  Summer camps are not necessarily run by the schools, and even if they are it is most likely a different set of people.  College and high school kids volunteer to be camp councilors.  These are not the teachers you are used to dealing with.  So it is time to be patient and explain the situation all over again.  So at camp that weekly pizza day means either your kids miss out or the place has to find gluten free pizza.  Either case makes me worry about stigmatizing my kids.  They are special to me but I don't want them singled out for a special table.

One good thing is often I have to provide the lunches and snacks.  I can have a bit more control of what they eat.  A downside is they may be sent to a special table.  I can guess this as the camp already notified me of peanut allergies.  Nothing with nuts should be sent with the kids.  Fair enough.  It also means the peanut kids will probably eat at their own table in case a parent doesn't want to heed that warning.  That's going to be an issue if the kids start to feel second class while at camp.

I imagine there are camps for kids dedicated to healthy living.  They probably have only lactose free cheese and milk, no nuts of any kind, only gluten free products, plenty of spring water fresh from the ground, and everything is organic.  But I do not live in that Vermont commune and one of those camps isn't near me.

I, like every other parent, have to deal with what we have available.  Summer Camp is supposed to be a place of fun and adventure, exploring outdoors and trying to make being away from school last forever.  But when there are food sensitivities/allergies involved someone has to be on the look out.  That random ice cream truck can ruin a day.  Schools are getting better with food concerns, camps may be catching up too, but for now healthy living means being vigilant, even in the lazy days of Summer.

At Children's Hospital

It is so easy to complain about life.  Things happen, others do not understand, can't find what I need and whatever else might happen.  And for those with food allergies/sensitivities there is a lot to complain about.  However, to encourage a greater general understanding its better to give credit where credit is due.  That's this post.

Had to go to #ChildrensHospital in Boston yesterday.  Got there mid-morning so it was time to get a little something to eat.  Children's Hospital Boston is still undergoing major renovations, just putting that out there first.  The renovations made their cafeteria move to a much smaller location in the building, still painted on the wall it clearly said Open, Breakfast 7 - 11.  Some of the staff working in the caf may not have read that.  We went up to the grill area to try and get some eggs and bacon.  There is NOTHING gluten free in the pop up cafe.  Even the ready made salads are marked with wheat as an allergen.  Eggs and bacon seemed a good option despite a cross contamination risk from a shared grill.  Well, that was the thought.  Behind the glass were trays of possibly yet-to-be-cooked ready made breakfast sandwiches stacked on top of each other and a person saying "No eggs, we are closed. I can give you sandwiches."  Pointing out the hours made no difference as they were closed for renovation.

Now, the hospital does have an Au Bon Pain there.  That restaurant is not very #glutenfree but is getting better.  The last time there was nothing to eat, now there are some salads, brownies, and the occasional soup.  What really was helpful was that I was able to order a bacon and egg bagel without the bagel.  The person was very helpful and I was charged not for a full sandwich but for extra sides of bacon and eggs.  My child was able to eat before our appointment.

The part that really deserves accolades was the hospital food services, not the caf.  The appointments would take several hours.  When we were at our final stop the very friendly nurses said we could order food.  And the place had a Gluten Free Menu!!!!

My child got to eat food good for him in the hospital.  That was a huge improvement from the last time we were there.  Children's should be commended for making this change.  Just to be thorough I will point out that the chicken nuggets were not a big hit, but tasting them there was a faint fish taste so they may have been cooked with other stuff.  I assume it was all gluten free.

Having gluten free menus is a great thing for hospitals, and recognizes that food people eat greatly affects their health and well being.  It's not all about pills and potions.  Thank you Children's Hospital Boston for making this needed change.

Gluten Free Children

For months now I have been doing what I can to live Gluten free.  For me it hasn't been that bad of a transition, challenging, but when put in perspective not all that bad.  Children, however, are another story.

I have one child that will really benefit from going gluten free, and another where it will help but is not absolutely necessary.  They are twins so what one gets the other demands.  Not in this case.  I buy nothing but gluten free food.  That means no cookie dough, no Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, no regular doughnuts, no regular pizza, no regular chicken nuggets, you get the point.  Several times already at the supermarket when the kids are along someone will ask, "Can I get this?" while handing me some awful thing.  I say I can't eat that and your brother shouldn't either.  The conversation quickly ends with a loud, "I hate Gluten!"

The resentment of one is matched by the reluctance of the other.  He just does not want to eat gluten free.  After going to great lengths to find products that actually taste good to a child's palate, at this point, I believe the resistance is not based on taste.  I wonder if two things are not happening here.  One is a realization that he is different and has to eat different.  The other that it seems he is singled out as different and has to eat different.  That everyone sees it.  Both those things can be devastating to a child.  I point out the differences in everyone, not just with diets, in an attempt to not only lessen the feeling of having a spotlight on him but to also help him appreciate the differences.  That's mostly  a lot of touchy happy feel good stuff and does not work all that much.

A different approach has been to try to develop insight within him as to what the affects of food are on him.  Certain foods really make him feel bad.  Some hurt a lot.  Gluten also affects him behaviorally.  It is almost like a steroid.  He becomes aggressive, unfocused, irritable, and restless.  I have no scientific evidence of this but am convinced the gluten is a major cause of bad behavior.  It is almost like clockwork that if he eats something bad soon he will be difficult to deal with.  And that is not his normal baseline behavior.

Healthy eating is just that, eating to be healthy.  And healthy counts more than just being not sick.  It means having a better outlook and behavior.  It was important for me and my own health, but becomes that much more important for my life when I see how it affects those I love.  Healthy living is a challenge for a whole family.  It impacts us on a very basic level.  Working it into the lives of children poses its own special challenges, school, socialization, etc.  I want to give both my children every chance to be the best possible persons, even if that requires them to have 'special' diets.  It is the least I can do.