Iowa proposal reflects allergy crisis

A proposal in Iowa's Waukee Community School District to discourage having peanut products around area students has brought attention to a national issue.

With 56 students in the Waukee district dealing with an allergy, the local proposal to limit peanut goods has brought to the forefront the growing problem of insufficient allergy precautions taken in national schools, The Des Moines Register reported Monday.

An estimated 2.2 million U.S. schoolchildren suffer from a food allergy of some sort and, with peanut allergies on the rise across the nation, parents are becoming increasingly concerned.

In Iowa, state officials do not track such cases and therefore educational institutions statewide are not provided with appropriate information to deal with the issue.

With such statewide inaction, parents in communities like Waukee are trying to protect their children by passing proposals limiting such potentially deadly food items.

The paper said that when the district's proposal comes to vote, school officials expect it to pass without a problem.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International