When Taylor Parsons found out that her son, Jackson, had food allergies, she felt like they couldn’t go anywhere or eat anything at someone else’s house or in public.
“But through friends on Facebook and the allergy groups,” Parsons said, “they were able to share products and stories, and I would say that now we feel much more comfortable going out in public. … It is scary, especially when going to a new place, but we have learned what is safe and what isn’t. Even in the grocery store, reading labels is really important. There are things that have nuts, for instance, in them that we wouldn’t expect.”
Jackson was diagnosed with food allergies when he was 11 months old, and at that time, he was allergic to milk, peanuts and tree nuts. Taylor said he has since grown out of his milk allergy, but she said she decided early on that she didn’t want his life to be limited by food allergies.
“We would be careful, but we are still going to go to birthday parties, but there is a risk,” Parsons said. “We started thinking about ways we could make public places safer, and after seeing a little kid with peanut butter dripping off his chin one day at the park, I decided that I wanted to contact the parks department to see about a sign getting put up.”
Parsons said she contacted the Benton Parks and Recreation Department through its Facebook page, wanting the department to put up signs to warn parents of the dangers of food allergies and how easily allergens can be transferred. She said she used another park’s sign as an example. She was then told to email director Stephanie Jones. Parsons said Jones replied with a generic, “We will look into it,” response.
“We received a few emails from people in the community, specifically from Taylor Parsons,” Jones said. “She was a parent with a child who has a life-threatening food allergy and wanted to put up signs at a playground.
“She gave me an example of a sign and what they look like. I talked to the parks chairman, Judd Hart, to see if we could move forward, and he was positive on it.”
Jones said it was not really an in-depth process.
“It took a few months for us to get the signs the way we wanted them and get approval for them,” Jones said. “There were others who suggested the idea for the signs, but Taylor was a big advocate for it.
“It is good awareness for people in Saline County and helps parents feel a little more at ease. It doesn’t mean the signs will work, but it does help and give peace of mind to parents whose children suffer from [allergies].”
The new signs say:
“Did you know 1 in 13 children have a food allergy? You can keep our children safer with these simple steps: 1. Eat at picnic areas. 2. Clean your hands after eating.”
Parsons said that when she came to Tyndall Park in Benton near the end of June, she saw the new signs and was so ecstatic that she snapped a picture and posted it on Facebook to praise the parks department.
“It just means a lot to people with food allergies to see the community supporting them,” Parsons said.
The signs weren’t posted until mid-June.
“We don’t always change something because of one person or a few people,” Jones said. “But after I did some research and saw what parents go through and how the statistics of children with allergies are — maybe not life-threatening, but something similar — we thought the park is a great place to put signs.
“I was thankful to Taylor for reaching out about it and bringing awareness to other parents who bring their children to the playground.”
According to kidswithfood
allergies.org, “the percentage of children with a food allergy has increased about 50 percent between 1997 and 2011. One in 13 children in the U.S. now has a food allergy.”
The most common food allergies, according to the website, are milk, eggs, peanuts, wheat, soy, fish, shellfish and tree nuts.
Parsons said it is important, when in a public place like a park, to clean hands with wipes when soap and water aren’t available because hand sanitizer doesn’t remove allergens. She also said children can have allergic reactions without ingesting their allergens.
“For so long, I think people saw allergies only affecting a few kids, and now the statistics are 1 in 13 kids have food allergies, many of which are life-threatening,” Parsons said. “It is really important to bring awareness to the community and to our parks department and the people who represent the public.”
She said she wants to protect her child, just like other parents want to protect theirs.
Jones said that once she shared the photo of the allergy sign at the park, it took off, reaching 600 likes in the first hour.
“We received a lot of positive feedback from the community and a lot of positive talk on it,” Jones said. “The same day we posted it, a parks director in New York emailed me, asking about the sign.
“That was pretty telling that this was a positive thing we were doing in the community,” Jones said.
Staff writer Sam Pierce can be reached at (501) 244-4314 or spierce@arkansasonline.com.