10 May FOOD ALLERGY AWARENESS WEEK
React With Respect
May 8-14, 2016
Every May, Food Allergy Research and Education promotes an awareness week. The purpose of the week is to improve public understanding of this potentially life-threatening medical condition. By increasing awareness, the hope is to encourage respect and improve the quality of life for the 15 million Americans affected by food allergies and anaphylaxis.
So what can you do this week? The following is a list of some ideas to get you started.
- Go to foodallergy.org and sign the pledge to “React with Respect” and help raise awareness about food allergies.
- Know the signs and symptoms of anaphylaxis and develop an emergency action plan for every setting the allergic individual may find themselves in.
- Spread the message about the week via social media networks. Here are some ideas of what you could share:
-Share one of FAREs educational videos.
-Tweet about allergies and inspire others to take action. Here are sample tweets:
-1 in 13 children has a food allergy. That’s two in every classroom!
-Every 3 minutes, a food allergy reaction sends someone to the ER-
That’s more than 200,000 visits per year.
-8 foods account for 90% of all reactions: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree
nuts, soy, wheat, fish, and shellfish.
-Food allergies can begin at any age and affect children and adults of
all races and ethnicities.
-There was a 50% increase in food allergy from 1997-2007. Learn
more about research on new therapies.
-Antihistamines will not reverse anaphylaxis. The first line of
treatment for a severe allergic reaction is epinephrine.
-There is no cure for food allergies. Always avoid your allergens.
-Read food labels every time you buy a product. Manufacturing
practices change all of the time.
-Hand sanitizers do not remove food proteins. Use soap and water or
wipes instead.
- Learn more about current research being conducted in food allergies. Visit aaaai.org for more information.
- Increase awareness in your settings. Download posters from FAREs website and hang in settings such as schools or worksites.
- Attend an awareness event, such as the Dallas FARE walk to be held on Saturday Nov 5 at the Dallas Zoo. Assemble a team and start fundraising now.
- Approach a teacher, scout troop leader, youth group leader, or coach about presenting the Be a PAL education program. This program can help kids learn how to be a good friend to kids with food allergies.
- Host a fundraiser at your worksite or school for FARE.
- Try a new allergen-friendly recipe.
- Support a food allergy-friendly company that donates to FARE. Some of them include: Chex, Enjoy Life, and Skeeter Snacks.
