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GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) – Halloween is a fun and spooky time, but it can be even scarier for kids who have food allergies or special needs.
Health officials and parents in our community want us to be mindful of kids who may need a different type of treat this year.
Kristin Kolaszewski, a Green Bay area mom, knows how tricky Halloween can get when there’s a child at home with food allergies.
“She has Celiac Disease, so she can’t have anything with gluten, which there’s a lot of powders that coat candy so she can’t have anything like that. She also can’t have dairy, so anything with chocolate is out for her,” said Kolaszewski.
Kolaszewski is a big advocate of the nationally recognized “Teal Pumpkin Project.” Its goal is to help promote food allergy awareness and inclusion of all trick-or-treaters.
“So when kids come to your door, ring your doorbell, you say do you want candy, or do you want a non-food treat, you can paint a pumpkin blue and that lets people know from afar,” said Kolaszewski.
Doctors say 1 in 13 kids in the United States have food allergies and suggest everyone buy alternatives, too.
“Halloween-based treats, meaning pencils, notepads, stickers, glow-in-the-dark necklaces or bracelets, glow-in-the-dark teeth, anything like that that the kids would love to have, and the parents would love to have available, so that they don’t have to be nervous about what their children are getting,” said Dr. Jeffrey Shaw, allergist with Prevea Health.
Kolaszewski also said it’s about making sure all kids feel included.
“Often times kids may have different developmental delays, sensory processing issues, they may have food allergies, there’s a lot of different things that kids may be struggling with at Halloween when they’re out and about in the community, and so just try to be patient with kids, because sometimes kids can be kids, but sometimes kids have other things that they’re dealing with,” said Kolaszewski.
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