Tips from a teenager

I was really pleased to catch up with one of my teenagers with food allergies recently. He is now 15 and starting to travel abroad for school residentials and sports trips without his family. It's a big step for him managing his tree nut allergy with less support. We discussed a few things he felt were important for other teenagers:

Be vigilant, but understand you aren't perfect, you may forget your adrenaline pen. Learn from that, be careful, and don't forget it next time. If you are without your adrenaline pen be even more vigilant.

It's harder checking labels abroad and some countries have less good labelling than the UK.

So be sure before you eat, and take your time - don't be rushed in to a food decision.

He avoids food stalls or street food if he is at all uncertain.

He wasn't actually worried about the flights he took, but had loads of his own snacks with him and the school made sure to communicate with the airline first. He did not share food on the flight.

For sporting events he takes his own snacks or buys brands he recognises from home.

He always asks the school to let restaurants know in advance of his allergies. He is learning to do this himself, but it can be a bit overwhelming and he can get embarrassed so he prefers the school teachers to help him with this.

He has told all his mates and asks them to keep an eye on him if he starts acting odd.

I raised using his health alert notification screen on his smart phone and to consider allergy translation cards for countries where English is not their first language.

These things are a work in progress for a teenager and refresher appointments with your allergist are so important. Even more important is that teenagers get time with their allergist where they can ask questions, practice using their pens or be told information that is relevant to them are their travels.

I am really grateful that he felt he could chat to me today. Teenagers are facing a lot of new experiences and supporting them to make good decisions is vital. Come and chat if your teen has any specific questions or needs a helping hand.