The Complete Kid’s Allergy and Asthma Guide

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A book review of The Complete Kid’s Allergy and Asthma Guide: The Parent’s Handbook for Children of All Ages by the Hospital for Sick Children

A book review of The Complete Kid's Allergy and Asthma Guide: The Parent's Handbook for Children of All Ages by the Hospital for Sick Children

Stars: ****

Robert Rose (2003)
Health
288 pages

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.

Summary: The Complete Kid’s Allergy and Asthma Guide gives parents a comprehensive, authoritative guide with common-sense guidelines, recommendations and tips on dealing with the asthmatic condition and the multiple allergic problems of children. Developed in collaboration with The Hospital for Sick Children, this book provides the most up-to-date, expert advice available, with easy-to-read information about every aspect of allergy and asthma.

For a child who has not yet received a medical diagnosis, The Complete Kid’s Allergy and Asthma Guide provides parents with vital information on how to read the signs of allergy and asthma — from keeping a food diary, to monitoring asthma symptoms, to tracking allergic reactions. A record of these observations is crucial to isolating a child’s allergy and asthma triggers.

This comprehensive guide offers daily coping strategies (how to check food labels, managing social situations, traveling tips), as well as dealing with more serious aspects of preparing for and handling severe allergic and asthmatic reactions.

The Complete Kid’s Allergy and Asthma Guide

If your child is dealing with (or may be dealing with) allergies AND asthma, this is a good starter guide to learn the basics. It covers the symptoms of food, seasonal and other allergies (like drugs or latex) and asthma. Learn how they develop, what triggers them, what you should do if you suspect a problem and if there is anything you can do to prevent them.

The only problem I saw is that it was created more than 17 years ago and needs to be reupdated. Most of the information is current but the explanation of what an epi pen looks like was not correct (or at least not for the brand we got) and they mention Anaphylaxis Canada as a resource which is now known as Food Allergy Canada. I don’t know if there is new information in prevention that isn’t included. I hope Robert Rose produces in updated and revisted version soon because it’s a good book.

The book is mostly written by people who work at the Hospital for Sick Children and there is one main editor Dr. Milton Gold. The beginning of the book goes over the qualificatinos of all the contributors so you know you are getting correct information.

The most shocking part of the book was the list of things that may contain latex. I always thought people with latex allergies only had to worry about doctor’s gloves, rubber bands and balloons. A latex allergy is a lot more complicated than I thought.

Although an updated version would be great, the book has enough current information to be a valuable resource right now. If you are new to allergies or asthma, it’s a great guide.

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About Kathleen

I've been a nonfiction lover for as long as I can remember. I love children's nonfiction as well and love to share my knowledge and the books I gained them from, with the world. I wish more people would give nonfiction a chance.