By Kavita Varma-White (http://moms.today.msnbc.msn.com)
When your kids go digging into the spice drawer, don’t expect any
great culinary creation. They may be looking for the cinnamon, which
they want to attempt to swallow, without water.
Spitting, gagging, coughing -- and often vomiting -- follows.
Ah,
the fun and games of youth. It’s the “cinnamon challenge,” an old dare
game that’s resurfaced in popularity and gone viral thanks to YouTube videos showing people of all ages attempting it. One of the most popular is by GloZell,
a woman with huge hoop earrings, who slurps the cinnamon from a soup
ladle and has a theatrical coughing reaction. It has been viewed more
than 9.8 million times.
That’s the video my kids were inspired by.
Recently, along with friends, they attempted their own challenge on our
back deck. There was much laughing
and joking, until my 9-year-old son had a reaction that involved
violent coughing, a blood-curdling scream, choking sounds, and tears. At
that point the kids decided the challenge really wasn’t that funny
anymore.
In fact the cinnamon challenge is being banned from schools and has
some doctors and poison control experts saying that, while it’s meant to
be in good fun, there is potential danger.
Dr. Russell Migita,
Clinical Director of Emergency Services at Seattle Children’s Hospital,
says that while he hasn’t treated anyone with problems related to
cinnamon ingestion, the practice could easily cause lung problems.
“Any
fine powder, if inhaled, can cause irritation to the lungs,” Migita
says. “Cinnamon is a pretty drying agent and has some heat to it. Anyone
who gets that kind of powder in their lungs, it doesn’t feel good.”
The extreme coughing most people experience can be a harmful side effect, says Migita who has watched cinnamon challenge YouTube videos.
“People
who cough that hard can have problems that can range from collapsing a
lung to having lungs that get really inflamed, or pulmonary edema,”
Migita says.
Amy Hanoian-Fontana, education specialist at the
Connecticut Poison Control Center, says that the biggest concerns of
ingesting cinnamon come from side effects such as vomiting or an
allergic reaction. People with asthma or respiratory-compromised
conditions are more at risk.
“People usually vomit,”
Hanoian-Fontana says. "The dry fine powder coats all the mucous
membrane; someone could end up with respiratory distress or trouble
breathing. The risk is more from a mouth, throat or lung injury than any
poisoning reaction from the cinnamon.”
She adds: “If a school
nurse calls, we tell them to wipe out the mouth, rinse out their mouth
and assess for respiratory problems ... and get as hydrated as
possible."
Hanoian-Fontana warns that cinnamon is an irritant
that may trigger an allergic reaction. “If someone has a severe allergic
reaction, and goes into respiratory distress, go to the emergency room
as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, some school districts are trying – in various ways -- to discourage students from attempting the challenge.
According to a report in the Taunton Daily Gazette, the
Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District in New Jersey sent a
letter home to parents saying school nurses have heard of students
eating cinnamon and suggest “that parents should talk to their kids
because it’s not harmless fun.”
And in Pottstown, Pa., a middle school has reported incidents of students doing the cinnamon challenge on campus, according to the Wall Street Journal. As
a result, the school put a ban on “open top boots” to keep kids from
smuggling things like cinnamon and cellphones into school.
John
Armato, community relations director for the Pottstown School District
told the Wall Street Journal: “Young people looking for an exciting
challenge that could lead to danger is an age-old problem.”
Seattle
Children’s Hospital’s Migita says there’s little benefit for kids in
doing the cinnamon challenge, given there is a chance they could get
hurt.
“If we know there is this potential risk and we can keep the cinnamon away from them, I would be in support of that,” he says.
Have your kids attempted the cinnamon challenge?
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