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The US National Institutes of Health has urged
mothers to start regular feeding of their babies from between four and six
months of age, with foods containing peanuts, saying that this lowers their
chances of becoming allergic.
The new guidelines explain that recent scientific
research has demonstrated that introducing peanut-containing foods to children
as young as four to six months can prevent the development of allergies, which
tend to start in childhood and continue through adulthood.
The guidelines, published in the Journal of
Allergy and Clinical Immunology, are based on the results of a National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) clinical trial in 2015
that found an 81 percent reduction in children thought to be at high-risk of
developing a peanut allergy from doing so after the early introduction of
peanut consumption as infants.
With allergies among children on the rise in
recent years, and no treatment or cure as of yet, the previous advice had been
to hold off on introducing peanuts into infants’ diets until they are at least
three.
The new recommendations explain exactly how and
when to introduce the nuts into their diet, depending on whether the child is
at a low, high, or moderate risk of developing allergies.
Children considered at high-risk are those with an
already existing allergy, such as severe eczema or an allergy to eggs, and are
recommended to have a checkup with their doctor before being exposed to peanut-containing
foods, which can then be introduced into their diet as early as four to six
months to minimize their risk of developing the allergy.
Those considered at moderate risk are infants with
moderate eczema and should be introduced to peanuts at around six months, while
those with no existing allergies or signs of eczema can have peanut-based foods
included into their diet at any point.
The study is quick to point out, however, that
peanuts should only be introduced once a child is on solid food, and to use
crushed peanuts or peanut butter to begin with as whole ones can be a choking
hazard.
It is thought that around 15 million people in the
US have food allergies, with one in 13 children affected. Of these, peanut
allergies account for the majority of the most severe food-related allergic
reactions.
“Living with peanut allergy requires constant
vigilance. Preventing the development of peanut allergy will improve and save
lives and lower health care costs,” said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci in a
statement. “We expect that widespread implementation of these guidelines by
health care providers will prevent the development of peanut allergy in many
susceptible children and ultimately reduce the prevalence of peanut allergy in
the United States.”
