Avoiding Birthday Party Food
Amanda Hilton / April 2019
Birthday parties are tough for us. Due to food sensitivities
and allergies, my children and I follow a gluten free, dairy free and low sugar
diet and we are also vegetarians by choice. So, when we are invited to a
birthday party, which happens often when you have four children, we need to
make sure we come food prepared.
Most hosts will have fruit and veggie plates available for
snacking, which is great since my children are not at all picky when it comes
to produce. But once the hot cheesy pizza hits the table or when it is time to
serve up the cake/cupcakes, my children sometimes feel a bit isolated.
I leave it up to my teenage daughter to attend gatherings
with friends and choose what foods she wants to put in her body. She is aware
of what the consequences are if she eats something that her digestive system
does not tolerate well. My youngest daughter on the other hand is too young to
even really understand our limitations. And my kindergartener is way to smart
for his own good. He knows to ask if something is gluten free or dairy free
(even though he doesn’t know the full meaning of either).
To ensure that we are fully prepared before we go to
birthday parties, I bake gluten free, dairy free cupcakes and make gluten free,
dairy free pizza (we do eat some goat and sheep cheese, this is what I use for
pizza) for us to bring with us to birthday parties. Do I feel incredible
awkward bringing my own food to parties….YES, but I would rather feel that, then
my children feel left out when all the other children are munching on pizza and
cake and they wonder why they have nothing but broccoli.
Having a school aged child with food sensitivities is even
more difficult. Special occasion days at school (Christmas, Easter, Halloween,
etc.) mean that special treats can be brought in for the class to share. This
is tough for my little guy! I ALWAYS make sure I send something, since once at
the beginning of the year, when it wasn’t our allotted snack day, my son had to
go without because no one brought fruit or veggies. Everything had dairy and/or
gluten. No worries, he had his lunch to fill his belly, but he didn’t feel so
great about being left out amongst a room full of 5/6-year-olds.
Food allergies and sensitivities are a common struggle for
many families. We live in a society where food is overly processed and what we
once may have thought was a healthy snack (yogurt tubes, bear paws, gold fish,
etc.) is really causing digestive distress in our children’s little bodies.
Food allergies can be severe which may cause anaphylactic shock and allergy
testing is done to determine the severity. But, some foods may have a less
severe effect on the body but still cause unpleasant symptoms such as eczema,
gas, bloating, loose stools, constipation, nausea, behavioural disorders, sleep
disturbance…just to name a few. If you need help determining if you or your
child may have a food sensitivity or intolerance, contact me at services@amandahilton.ca to arrange
a free consultation to discuss the road to recovery for your digestive system.
