Something not a lot of people think about is the social aspect of it. It’s hard enough on these kids that they can’t order pizza or just relax and eat at a buffet with their friends. Many of them are embarrassed and don’t like to cause a fuss when something’s wrong, so they just go without.
My daughter has Celiac & can’t have gluten. She attended an honors scholars overnight at a school recently that has on their website that they can accommodate gluten-free diets, but we found when we got there that reality was very different. We spoke together with the head & sous chef, and although they couldn’t swear there wouldn’t be any cross contamination they said everything was very clearly labeled, they used best practices in the kitchen and had dedicated utensils, etc. Usually understanding how important it is is 99% of the battle, and I felt comfortable enough to leave her.
It turned out that she had some lettuce and a hard boiled egg for dinner, and some cereal for breakfast, and was starving by the time I picked her up. She said there was pretty much nothing she could eat. We had to cross that college – which was otherwise her favorite – off the list immediately.