2023-05-04 08:31:20
In 2020, 6-8% of children under 12 suffered from a food allergy. This is twice as much as ten years earlier, estimates the Ministry of Health and Prevention. “We have seen this increase since the 1980s”, explains Andreas Werner, pediatric allergist and president of the French Association of Ambulatory Pediatrics (Afpa). “The problem is that it continues in this direction. »
Milk, egg, peanuts… In most cases, these allergies concern foods that the pediatrician considers classic. But which affect more and more children, and with increasingly pronounced effects on their health. “Pollution, environmental changes and endocrine disruptors to which we are exposed make allergenic products even more allergenic, including in children”, explains Andreas Werner.
“In most cases, the allergenic food is replaced”
At lunchtime, schools must adapt to these special cases, which are always more numerous. Differentiated care that sometimes turns into a headache. In Mâcon (Saône-et-Loire) since the start of the school year, 31 children have benefited from an individualized reception protocol (PAI) due to a food allergy. “A few years ago, there were no more than five”explains Catherine Carle Viguier, first deputy mayor in charge of education.
These protocols lead to adjustments, which vary according to the establishments, but also from one child to another: “In most cases, the student is simply offered a dish in which the allergenic food is replaced. » But when the student is also sensitive to residual traces of this product, the device is heavier. “These children are not taken care of by the canteenexplains the Mâconnaise elected official. Parents must provide a packed lunch. »
Specially trained facilitators
This is the option chosen by the municipality of Bordeaux (Gironde). For the 79 children concerned by a PAI, no substitute dish is planned. “We have a fairly wide offer, with a vegetarian option each time, but we cannot provide an option for each allergy”, explains Sylvie Schmitt, deputy mayor of the city, in charge of education. A decision that satisfies the parents and avoids incidents, she says.
Carole Galissant, director of the nutrition division of Sodexo, the company which manages the catering services of many schools, is satisfied with these protocols which, despite the constraints they create, make it possible to simplify the reception of these students.
Sodexo nevertheless applies broader rules in the schools where it operates. “Recipe names are clarified. We avoid writing “chef’s salad”,or we specify all the ingredients that make it up so that the students are aware. » In accordance with a regulation dating from 2011, the company also displays on its menus the allergens present in its meals. Families can then anticipate and plan, if necessary, a replacement meal. “After securing the inside of the plate, you have to make sure that everything around it is too”, she says. The company trains its staff accordingly, so that they are able to warn children in the event of a risk.
It remains to ensure that children, especially the youngest, do not put themselves in danger. In the schools of Mâcon, a referent is designated among the facilitators and responsible for ensuring that allergic children do not dig into the plates of their neighbours. “The problem is that it is difficult to recruit animators, or else they do not stay very long, observes Catherine Carle Viguier. We constantly have to train new people on how to manage these children, it’s an additional constraint. »
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