Elimination Diets for Kids with Eosinophilic Esophagitis

Our world revolves around food.  Most events-- family and friend gatherings, holiday get togethers, birthday parties, class parties at school, after game celebrations, special treats for positive reinforcement, and just having a nice meal, all include food.  Food is something we all have in common.  We use food as a way a to socialize with family, friends, even co-workers and acquaintances.

What do you think you would do if one day you were told you could no longer eat your favorite foods.  Let's say you really enjoy that bowl of Corn Flakes with a nice cold glass of milk each morning.  Or you look forward to that steaming cup of coffee with cream.  Perhaps you really enjoy eating yogurt and a bowl of fruit, say strawberries or grapes for lunch.  And how about that grilled chicken or salmon for dinner with a nice roll.  And if you feel like it during the day and don't want to snack, you might grab a piece of chewing gum or suck on a mint.  Now imagine that you can't eat any of these items among many, many more.  How do you think you would react?

So many children with EE are on either elimination or elemental diets.  This can be such a scary, frustrating and overwhelming time for these children and their families.  When we found out what foods Andrew was first going to be taken off, (wheat, chicken, milk, fish, and treenuts) I remember feeling devastated, overwhelmed and so sad for my son.  However, at the same time, I was hopeful that this diet was going to put us on the path to remission.  But my feelings were not the feelings that were most important...there was this 6 year old boy that was being told he was not going to be able to eat his favorite foods anymore.  No more milk, ice cream, cheese, bread, and so many more things that you would never imagine that have these ingredients hidden in them.  Going to restaurants would have to be limited, birthday cake at friends parties was a no-no, he would have to bring his own snack to his basketball games, and on and on and on.  So I asked Andrew how he felt about having to go on this new diet and his reply amazed me. "I'm a little bit sad and a little bit happy.  I'm little sad because I wont be able to eat some of the food I like, but I'm a little happy because I will get to try new foods."  He about brought me to tears.  What  a mature response for a little guy, and how blessed we are to have such a wonderful son.  So then it was my job to do research, buy cookbooks and learn how to change his diet and make his food, as well as our entire family's dinners "Andrew safe".

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