Celiac Disease in the Summertime

For many, summertime simply means fun-in-the-sun.  For mothers of kids on a celiac diet it means much more.  All those sessions you had in the fall with your child’s teacher, principal, and school nurse are worthless to you in the summer.  Now you have to deal with something entirely different – camp!

Here’s the good news: If you live in the San Fransisco Bay area you are home free!  There is a celiac sleepaway camp (aptly called “Camp Celiac”) at Camp Arroyo replete with swimming, rock climbing, boating, sports, arts and crafts…and all the gluten-free food you can eat!  Rhode Island, Michigan, and Georgia also boast  gluten-free camps with similar attractions.  The Celiac Sprue Association and about.com lists all the camp options for those who require gluten-free food.

But for those of us unlucky ones for whom these camps are not an option (in my case my 3 year old is far too young for sleepaway camp!), we have to make due with other arrangements.  It will involve  meeting with the people in charge of your child’s day camp with your doctor’s notes and your food lists and emergency telephone numbers.  It will also involve clearing all food items that the camp gives out to the kids.  Hopefully it won’t involve the camp director telling you to choose a different camp! (That has happened to me.)

I always find it easier to send my food-challenged children to camps that don’t provide food. It’s much easier for me to send them with lunches rather than it is to try to explain to the fifteen year old counselor about the celiac diet or anaphylaxis. And I hate to imagine the looks on my kids faces when everyone else is eating pizza and they are stuck with the same sandwich they have been eating for the last 3 weeks.  One food item that I like to pack up for my caliac daughter is Dr. Praeger’s Broccoli Littles.  They are not cheap (what is?) but they are healthy and my daughter loves them.  They are little, frozen, fun shaped broccoli/potato patties.  You just pop them in the toaster for about 10 minutes, wrap it in tin foil and put it in their backpacks.  It can’t be easier.  Dr. Praeger’s also makes potato littles, sweet potato littles, spinach littles, fishies, fish sticks, and pizza bagels.  We haven’t tried any of those yet, but we are big fans of the broccoli littles!  I’m always looking for new ideas for foods to send with Amy, so if any of you know of other good take-to-camp foods, I’d love to hear from you.



2 Responsesto “Celiac Disease in the Summertime”

1.  Mirror Tiles says:

   August 15, 2010 at 2:18 pm

   i have been in Gluten Free diet because i have a chronic food allergy..`.