School packed lunches

[JuliaH]

My daughter is 3 and a half and is allergic to dairy, all nuts, eggs, sesame seeds and chickpeas. She attends pre-school 3 days a week where we give her a packed lunch. She will start primary school in September. I'm concerned that she may not be receiving the right balanced diet as providing a packed lunch for a child with multiple food allergies is challenging at best. I can only give her cooked meats in her sandwich (ham or chicken) and then give her raw vegetable pieces, mainly cucumber and carrots followed by a fruit pot and fruit bar or sultanas. As she has multiple food allergies, I will not be able to let her have school meals and especially in winter time it will be a concern not being able to give her a hot meal. Would you have any nutritional advice/guidance to give? Many thanks. Julia

[Dr Adam Fox]

It is essential that this type of dietetic advice especially in multiple food allergy, is carefully individualised and you should be getting properly supported here. The NICE guidelines and national care pathways are clear that all such cases should receive specialist dietetic advice so if you are not getting this, then please ask your GP for a referral. If you have already seen a hospital based allergy specialist, you should be able to access this through there.