"Food Allergies are a Character Flaw"

Usually, when a stupid idea manifests itself on the blogosphere, it’s pretty harmless. At worst, following such ideas will either waste your time or leave you feeling a little embarrased. However, there’s an idea that’s been circulated that goes beyond garden-variety stupid and crosses the line into emergency-room stupid.

It started with an entry on Chris Selley’s blog, Tart Cider, on the death of 15 year-old Christina Desforges, who was initially believed to have died of a food allergy and later determined to have died of an asthma attack (coupled with second-hand cigarette smoke, first-hand marijuana smoke and hanky-panky with her boyfriend). The article uses this as a preamble to a polemic about the “allergy police”, a collective name for the groups that are campaigning against peanuts in schools and on airplanes. Kate MacMillan then linked to it in her blog, Small Dead Animals, where she talks about the rules concerning bringing animals on airplanes.

However, we don’t go into the Twilight Zone until the meme goes through the Relapsed Catholic funhouse mirror when Kathy Shaidle links Kate’s blog entry with this statement:

Food allergies are a character flaw.

As they used to say on those late-night TV ads for Ronco products: “But wait, there’s more!”:

Know what’s causing all those peanut allergies?

Bicycle helmets.

You think I’m kidding.

Ever notice how middle class white liberals are the ones with all the allergies and asthma and whatever this week’s “disease” is?

Before I continue, allow me to show you a Venn diagram to show you which space the above statements occupy:

I have a number of relatives, some of whom could not be classified as “liberal” who have some pretty serious food allergies that pre-date the campaigns for nut-free environments by decades. My mom, whom you wouldn’t classify as “liberal” based on many political litmus tests (and wouldn’t classify as “white” either), had an allergy to fish when she was younger that she grew out of. She and my sister — both doctors, by the bye — have noted these reactions in one of my nephews, who exhibits clear physical symptoms, at least according to my lying eyes. Even I, hardly the roll-over-and-die type of personality (and I eat everything; I could probably eat rocks if served with the right sauce) have in recent years developed some kind of reaction whenever I eat fresh cherries.

There is a bit of truth to Kathy’s statements, however: parents do tend to freak out and be overly cautious about their kids. A number do tend to take their kids to the emergency room for very minor ailments, but doctors have come up with all sorts of observational tricks to counter this. The waiting room full of toys at St. Joseph’s Health Centre is a good diagnostic tool; a genuinely sick kid is more likely to ignore them. A little education can fix this, and personally, I’d rather that parents obsess a little over the kids than say, the bottle or the racetrack.

Back to the matter of hand: stating that food allergies are a character flaw is as close to Lysenkoism as one can get without a career in research (or, more accurately, purported research). Lysenkoism comes from Trofim Lysenko, who is most notable for being a poseur whose theories were driven by politics rather than actual science.

While Kathy’s statement about food allergies does have the slight ring of truth to it — some people use “food allergies” as an excuse for culinary cowardice — I will remind you that “Even the Devil can quote scripture for his own purposes”. Taking it at face value may put someone you love in some pretty serious trouble. The best rule to follow is: when in doubt, see a doctor.

As for her statement about bike helmets: if you believe that line, go ahead and bike without a helmet — if you get a head injury, who’d be able to tell?

I could go on, but how ’bout we take this to the comments? Parents, doctors, cyclists: speak your mind!