Opinion Blog

Ask a Psychologist

Helping Students Thrive Now

Angela Duckworth and other behavioral-science experts offer advice to teachers based on scientific research. To submit questions, use this form or #helpstudentsthrive. Read more from this blog.

Student Well-Being Opinion

Students With Food Allergies Are Lonelier: Here’s How to Help

By Ayelet Fishbach — January 26, 2022 2 min read
How do I help kids with food allergies not feel left out?
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

What can I do to help students with food allergies at class parties?

Kids with food restrictions feel left out when they can’t fully participate at a party. Here’s something I wrote recently about the topic for Character Lab as a Tip of the Week:

When my son was in preschool, he was diagnosed with gluten sensitivity. It’s a mild condition, his pediatrician assured us, one he’d most likely outgrow (and he eventually did). But for the time being, he needed to abstain from gluten.

Adjusting my son’s diet was relatively easy, since gluten-free bread and pasta are now ubiquitous. What I didn’t expect was the social toll. He was so frustrated when he couldn’t eat at school birthday parties that I was tempted to pull him out each time before the cake—and his inevitable tears—arrived.

Meals are inherently a social activity. Most of us would rather eat with others than alone and with good reason: Sharing similar foods forms a social connection. In our research, my colleagues and I found, a child who misses out on birthday cake or pizza at a school party is less deprived of a treat than of the social bond that sharing food engenders.

In one study, we asked elementary school teachers to rate each student on statements like “the child feels left out of things” and “the child is well-liked by other children.” We found that students with food restrictions were less integrated—in other words, they were lonelier. Kids who were new to the class or had a learning difficulty had an even harder time socially, but having a food allergy had a bigger impact on loneliness than being a non-native English speaker did.

And the effect extends beyond food allergies. In another study, we assigned students under the age of 21 to play games with others who could legally consume alcohol. When the underage students thought their peers drank wine instead of sparkling cider, they felt left out.

Don’t think of food allergies solely as a nutritional issue. The damage to social well-being is just as consequential.

Do recognize that breaking bread is often less about the food itself than the connection over a shared interest. To compensate, young people with food allergies can form bonds in other ways—say, by participating in team sports, playing an instrument as part of an ensemble, or using screen time to play team-based computer games. Food restrictions may be on the rise, but loneliness doesn’t have to be.

The opinions expressed in Ask a Psychologist: Helping Students Thrive Now are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

Events

Student Well-Being K-12 Essentials Forum Boosting Student and Staff Mental Health: What Schools Can Do
Join this free virtual event based on recent reporting on student and staff mental health challenges and how schools have responded.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Curriculum Webinar
Practical Methods for Integrating Computer Science into Core Curriculum
Dive into insights on integrating computer science into core curricula with expert tips and practical strategies to empower students at every grade level.
Content provided by Learning.com

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Student Well-Being How Districts Can Keep After-School and Summer Learning Alive After ESSER Dries Up
Roughly 8 in 10 school districts spent some of their federal COVID relief funds on after-school or summer learning.
4 min read
Multi-ethnic preschool boys playing with blocks.
E+ / Getty
Student Well-Being Kids Are Getting Priced Out of Youth Sports. How Schools Can Help
The rising costs of participating in organized youth sports is making these activities unaffordable for many families.
3 min read
Graham Bacigalupi, of Team Louisiana, watches from the dugout during the DYB, formerly Dixie Youth Baseball, Little League tournament in Ruston, La., on Aug. 8, 2023.
Graham Bacigalupi, of Team Louisiana, watches from the dugout during a Little League tournament in Ruston, La., on Aug. 8, 2023.
Gerald Herbert/AP
Student Well-Being All Public Schools Can Now Get Free COVID-19 Tests. Here's How
The Education Department is encouraging schools to share the COVID-19 tests with staff, families, and the broader community.
2 min read
COVID-19 antigen home tests indicating a positive result are photographed in New York on April 5, 2023.
COVID-19 antigen home tests indicating a positive result are photographed in New York on April 5, 2023.
Patrick Sison/AP
Student Well-Being Teletherapy Challenges: Schools Share How to Navigate Mental Health Support
Schools need to invest in the right ingredients to make their teletherapy sessions useful for students.
7 min read
A tele-therapy session at Kershaw County School District in Kershaw County, South Carolina.
A teletherapy session at the Kershaw County school district in South Carolina.
Courtesy of Presence