As someone involved in public policy making and policy enforcement, I find it alarming that so much public policy today, especially in schools, is driven by fear of historical litigation rather than sound research, cost-benefit analysis, and least-restrictive resources. It meets the objective plan and other aspects of the account.
One final example of history-based decision making is the prohibition of peanut products in schools. Two articles on Associated Content recently reported an increased incidence of United schools considering banning peanut products in an effort to get children to keep those allergic to peanuts (you can read them by clicking here and here.) Is this a sound public policy or a superstition based on hysteria?
Statistics
There are 53.3 million children in the United States, according to the United States Census Bureau’s 2003 statistics .
Peanut allergies affect 1 percent of the population of the United States or 3 million people; for one in four of them, or 750,000, allergy symptoms cause severe respiratory or gastro-intestinal symptoms. These numbers are for all ages from babies to adults.
20% of children with peanut allergies outgrow them by school age and up to 50% eventually outgrow them.
Different researchers estimate the number of Americans who die each year from food-induced anaphylaxis from any allergy-inducing food compounds at 100-150. Some studies show that most of those who die are children, while others die mostly as teenagers, and young adults /a>. The most serious food allergic-reactions results from peanuts or allergies.
There are 133,362 serving grades k-12 schools in the United States, according to the United States Department of Education.
Good or Not Banned?
It is reasonable to restrict the activities of 53,300,000 school children in the hope of preventing death or serious health risks to peanut allergy patients where ;
the number of annual deaths in all age groups is 100-150;
on the great exaggerated supposition that all the deaths of school-age children occurred at school, the deaths would affect .0002 per cent of the regular population;
the annual number of severe episodes of peanut allergy among all age groups is 750,000;
again, with the highly exaggerated assumption that all such severe episodes occurred among school children, the episodes would affect 14 percent of the regular population;
however, the more accurate estimate may be one-sixth of that, or 2.3 percent, since the school population is about one-sixth of the total > the multitude of the United States; and,
Are they less restrictive available to protect the target population without controlling the excesses of 52,550,000 – 53,300, 850 people, for whom the control is redundant and a burden?
Remember the incidents of preschoolers and children and adults included in the death and allergy statistics and that food caused anaphylaxis statistic Also, banning peanut butter and other peanut products in schools will not prevent incidents of age schools that take place outside the school.
Motor vehicles killed 7677 children aged 0-18 in 2003. This is 54 – 76 times the number of people who died from anaphylaxis. Should all children be banned from riding in motor vehicles? If banning peanut butter for 53,300,000 school children is the equivalent of preventing a number less than 100-150 deaths, why don’t we keep the number more than 54 – 76 times. banning all 73.7 million children in the United States from riding in cars? This question is not funny. Think about the effects of both bans.
Between 40 and 100 Americans die each year from anaphylaxis caused by insect stings. This estimate is believed by experts. as underreported. Is it time to uproot all the stinging insects from the face of the Earth?
No one on either side of the peanut ban issue wants to see a child suffer severe allergy symptoms or die from anaphylaxis. The question is not whether pregnant eros should benefit from some protection but whether eros should be universally banned. right of protection Banning peanuts from schools places a huge burden on millions of families. In addition to butter do not pack, it means not allowing children access to foods cooked with peanut oils and foods prepared. places where peanuts are processed. This requires checking the labels of all prepared foods that children bring to school and to all cafeteria foods used. It means to worry that nonallergic kids and even teachers have eaten before they come to school and whether their bodies and clothes have been carefully cleaned the sum of the dust will be eroded. In short, a ban on edibles in schools is unequivocal to the point of being impossible, except for bad public policy .
Less invasive practices, such as alternative feeding preparations for allergic students, access to safe storage/preparedness of epi pens (which can cause death if used on a non-allergy child), along with a large food allergy education, work to be completed.
Sources: Peanuts, Folic Acid and Peanut Allergies, http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionales/14332_1819.asp; Sampson HA. In Allergy, Principles and Practice, 5th Ed., E. Middleton et al, ed. Mosby, St. Louis, p. 1162. 1998; AAAAI Board of Directors “Anaphylaxis in schools and other care settings.”; Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 102 (2):173-6. 1998; http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/indicators/53Numberofchildren.cfm; Peanut Allergy, http://www.allergicchild.com/peanut_allergy.htm; Peanut Allergy Epidemic More and More Kids, But Half Affected Are Likely to Grow Up,
http://12.31.13.50/healthtopics/allergies/Sep04acMain.htm; Allergy Statistics, http://medicineworld.org/medicine/allergy/allergy-statistics.html (citing Bock SA, Munoz-Furlong A, and Sampson, HA. Fatalities Due to Anaphylactic Reaction to Foods”. Journal of Allergyand Journal of Immunology 107: 191-193. 2001; Sicherer SH , Munoz-Furlong A, Burks AW et al.: Potency of peanut and allergy in the US tree in the US determined by random fingertip telephone extension .
