JERUSALEM POST – Peanut allergies can be reduced by 77% if babies are fed peanut products at four to six months of age, a new study found.
The peer-reviewed study was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in December.
The study was led by Prof. Graham Roberts of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Southampton Biomedical Research Center, which is hosted by University Hospital Southampton (UHS) and the University of Southampton, and Prof. Gideon Lack of Kings College London, with the cooperation of the Immune Tolerance Network (ITN) and the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
The study used data from Enquiring About Tolerance (EAT) and Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP), two random trials previously conducted by Lack that included both children at high risk for developing a peanut allergy and children at low risk for developing a peanut allergy.
Most children develop allergies by the time they turn one year old.
The modeled approach found that it is best to introduce peanut products – preferably creamy peanut butter or other peanut products without choking hazards, not whole or broken peanuts – at four to six months of age, and four months for babies with eczema.
The researchers advised that mothers should breastfeed for at least the first six months of their baby’s life and introduce peanut products within the aforementioned time window.
They found that introducing peanut products into all babies’ diets by six months could reduce peanut allergies by up to 77% of the population.
In comparison, waiting to introduce peanut products until 12 months of age would lead to only a 33% reduction.
“Over several decades, the deliberate avoidance of peanut has understandably led to parental fear of early introduction,” said Roberts …
