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Educator Talks Importance Of Food Awareness, Allergies

Pictured is Kyle Dine, a food allergy educator, providing an informational presentation to Bemus Point Elementary students. P-J photo by Jordan W. Patterson

BEMUS POINT — Kyle Dine’s presentation on food allergies was lighthearted and intended to be fun, but the message was serious.

“It’s understanding of allergies,” Dine said of the goal of his work. “It’s empathy for people with allergies and support. I just remember … growing up no one really knew too much about it. I felt like I was living on an island and I hid my allergies from people.”

Dine, a food allergy educator, visited Bemus Point Elementary School on Friday to raise awareness on the dangers of certain foods. Dine has six food allergies himself, one of which, an allergy to tree nuts, sparked what became the current campaign to educate people on the matter. During the presentation, Dine listed eight of the most common allergies that includes peanuts, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, milk, wheat and soy.

Food Allergy Research & Education indicates that 1 in 13 children suffer from a food allergy, or 40% of children in the U.S.

In 2007, Dine had a brush with a full anaphylactic shock, a state people experience when having a dangerous allergic reaction as their throat begins to close, after unknowingly eating food that contained tree nuts.

He described the experience as a “wake up call” and realized he needed to spread awareness on the issue.

“I realized I wanted to help kids avoid allergies who go through that,” Dine said.

At first, he started small. Beginning at his mother’s school where she served as the principal, Dine provided a brief workshop on food allergies. Now, he has traveled to 900 different schools throughout the U.S. to get the word out.

“It literally just grew from that,” he said.

Friday’s presentation consisted of Dine playing guitar, singing and even miming four puppets while providing allergy information to the students. Much of his performance focused on allergy symptoms and encouraging students to learn their friends, family members and classmates allergies. Parents, teachers and students were all dressed in the color teal, a symbol for allergy awareness. On Halloween, people are encouraged to paint their pumpkins teal to signify that they provide allergy-free treats.

Someone who is experiencing an allergic reaction will often experience hives or rashes on their skin, swelling in his or her face and other itchiness around throughout the body. In more serious cases, a person’s throat will begin to close, a reaction from the immune system to prevent foreign substances from entering the body.

“It’s almost like tricking them into learning where they’re having a lot of fun and they’re very engaged,” Dine said of his performance. “Food allergy can almost be a doom and gloom subject. It’s a very serious one, so you have to make it accessible to kids.”

Sonja DuBois, Bemus Point Elementary School principal, said Heidi Pillittieri, a parent of children with food allergies, was integral in bringing Dine to the school. Bemus Point has several students with food allergies and DuBois said their experience can often be less than ideal. She said students are even bullied because of their allergies and hoped that raising awareness could help assist in anti-bullying efforts.

“I think it’s important for children to know what these allergy symptoms look like,” DuBois said, “and also to have that compassion for somebody who does have allergies. That way we can protect the kids that are in need and also educate those that don’t know.”

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