Explain Food Allergies and Intolerances That a Young Child May Experience and the Importance of Following Carers Instructions on the Needs of Their Child
CYPOP 2 – Care for the physical and nutritional needs of babies and young children
6.2 – Explain food allergies and intolerances that a young child may experience and the importance of following carers instructions on the needs of their child
Food allergies occur when your immune system makes a mistake. Normally, your immune system protects you from germs and disease. It does this by making antibodies that help you fight off bacteria, viruses, and other tiny organisms that can make you sick. But if you have a food allergy, your immune system mistakenly treats something in a certain food as if it's really dangerous to you.
Food intolerance occurs when the body is unable to deal with a certain type of foodstuff. This is usually because the body doesn't produce enough of the particular chemical or enzyme that's needed for digestion of that food.
Wheat, milk and peanuts are amongst the most common sources of allergies in young children. Symptoms can present themselves in varying degrees and in the case of peanut allergies can cause death. Some children are extremely allergic and even a trace of certain products can cause them to become unwell, where as other children may show signs after a few hours. If a child enters a setting who has an allergy it is good practice to have care forms available for the parent and their health professional to fill out. This should include information of what the allergy is and what treatment to give if a child is exposed to the food or liquid. You must gain as much information as possible from parents and if an epi pen is required to be on site then training may have to taken on how to use one. All settings should be nut free and that includes if children bring in packed lunches because of the seriousness as mentioned above. For intolerances such as...