Gluten-Free School Lunch Guidelines

With the help of the United States Department of Agriculture, the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness has developed guidelines to help children and their parents navigate their school's meal program.

These guidelines explain federal laws that are applicable to children with celiac disease and provide step-by-step instructions for getting a child set up for special gluten-free meals at school.

To download a printable PDF of the guidelines, click the image to the left or the following link: Celiac School Lunch Guidelines.

Below is an article by Vanessa Maltin, NFCA's director of outreach and programming that will help you prepare for the upcoming school year. It includes an interview with Congressman Steve Kagen of Wisconsin, who is also an allergist and immunologist.

Back-to-School: Navigating the School System with a Celiac Child
Plus a special interview with Congressman Steve Kagen
By Vanessa Maltin, NFCA Director of Outreach & Programming

It’s back-to-school time again! I remember being a little girl and getting all dressed up for the first day of school. My mom would braid my hair and together we would pack my lunch in a bright pink lunchbox. I usually packed a sandwich, crackers or pretzels, a piece of fruit and one of my mom’s famous homemade oatmeal raison cookies. For years I packed this type of lunch, and for all of those years I felt sick. Little did we know, the reason was celiac disease?

Just when you thought you’d figured out how to manage your child’s diet at home, it’s time to find a way for them to head off to school and eat lunch with their friends in the cafeteria. This may sound daunting, but these new guidelines will help ensure that your child is safe and healthy at school, and learns to manage his or her own gluten-free diet!

First of all, some basic reminders about celiac disease:

WHAT IS CELIAC DISEASE?
Celiac disease is a hereditary autoimmune disease that damages the villi of the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. What does this mean? Put simply, the body is attacking itself!

Celiac disease is triggered by consumption of the protein called gluten, which is found in wheat, barley and rye. When people with celiac disease eat foods containing gluten, their immune system responds by damaging the fingerlike villi of the small intestine. When the villi become damaged, the body is unable to absorb nutrients into the bloodstream.

TREATMENT:
The only treatment for celiac disease is a 100%, life-long gluten-free diet, which means avoiding all forms of wheat, barley and rye.

Despite these restrictions, people with celiac disease can eat a well-balanced diet that consists of healthy and delicious foods. Even though it may seem impossible to maintain the diet at school, these simple guidelines will ensure that your child has the best possible experience throughout their school years.

GOING TO SCHOOL:
Most children with special dietary needs tend to bring their own snacks and lunch to school to ensure that the food they eat is safe. This is a good thing! As a parent, you can work with your child to educate them on how to pack a nutritious and delicious gluten-free lunch! This teaches your child early on how to manage his or her own diet.

For help with making gluten-free lunches, download the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness Celiac Survival Guide at www.CeliacCentral.org. It includes meal and snack ideas and suggestions for products that are easy for children to take to school.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR RIGHTS:
Even though you may love to make your child’s lunch everyday, it is very important as a parent to understand what the federal government requires participating school districts to do to accommodate children with food allergies and intolerances.

To help you better understand the federal requirements, I contacted Congressman Steve Kagen from Wisconsin’s 8th District. Dr. Kagen founded the Kagen Allergy Clinics, which are located throughout the state. He has served as an assistant clinical professor of Allergy-Immunology at the Medical College of Wisconsin and is triple board certified in Internal Medicine, Allergy-Immunology, and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology. He was also voted one of the “Best Doctors in America,” and CNN named him their Allergy Consultant. kagen.house.gov

In addition to representing his constituents in Washington, D.C., Dr. Kagen tries to keep regular appointments with patients at his clinics in Wisconsin, many of who are dealing with celiac disease and other food allergies at school.

“The best advice I have for parents is to speak up and become a vocal advocate for their child,” Dr. Kagen said.

When Dr. Kagen diagnoses a child with celiac disease or other life-threatening food allergy, he helps the child and parent develop an action plan. The first step involves educating the family on how to manage a special diet at home and at school. He also help the child and parent with writing a letter to the school detailing the exact condition the child has and what he or she can and cannot eat.

Over the last 25 years, he has found schools to be “very responsive,” especially at the elementary school level. To learn more about Dr. Kagen’s work in Congress and legislative priorities, visit his congressional website at kagen.house.gov. If you live Wisconsin, please visit www.kagenallergy.net to make an appointment or see one of the clinic’s specialists. Maybe you’ll run into Dr. Kagen!

Here’s some basic information that will help you navigate your child’s school.

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), celiac disease is defined as a disability. The United States Department of Agriculture Food and Agriculture (USDA) has adopted this definition as well, meaning that all children with celiac disease are included under the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service Guidance on Children with Special Dietary Needs.

The USDA Child Nutrition Division oversees school lunch programs and requires participating school systems to provide substitutions for all students with food allergies and intolerances that qualify as a disability.

What is a Disability?
Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, a “person with a disability” is defined as any person who has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities including eating. Celiac disease falls under this definition.

Americans with Disabilities Act
Comprehensive legislation, signed into law on July 26, 1990, that creates new rights and extends existing rights for Americans with disabilities. Title II of the Act is especially significant for school nutrition programs, as it requires equal availability and accessibility in State and local government programs and services, including public schools—this includes school lunch programs.

Basically, this means that students cannot be excluded from school meal programs because of celiac disease. This extends to breakfast, lunch and after school snacks as well at NO extra cost to the student.

To qualify for reimbursable meal substitutions, you must set up a 504 plan. To qualify, your child will need a note from a physician certifying that they have celiac disease and explaining what foods need to be avoided and detailing safe substitutions. For more information, please visit the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service’s website at: http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Lunch/AboutLunch/ProgramHistory_4.htm