Fun charms alert to allergies

You know how kids are--they like fun things. But they also have a lot of allergies, apparently, at least a lot that are diagnosed these days.

One in 12 has some food allergy, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Every six minutes, a tyke appears in the ER with an allergic reaction.

This website, http://allermates.com, has a raft of info on childhood allergies and offers colorful wristbands and charms denoting various allergies.

P. Nutty, of course, stands for peanut allergies. Nutso represents all nut allergies. Pint=Dairy. Professor Wheatley=gluten. Crabby=Shellfish. Eggie=Eggs. Drift=Pollen. Bizzzy=insect stings. Puffer=Asthma. Tab=Diabetes. And there are more!

When a kid goes to a friend's house, the friend's Mom can see what's what before offering a crab on peanut butter sandwich, made wearing latex gloves.

Is it me or might we be fostering a little bit of hypochondria? Probably not--you know how I am.