There's a Very Easy Way to Prevent Peanut Allergies, According to a New Study
As always, speak to your doctor too.
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More than 6 million Americans live with a peanut allergy. And that number is on the rise. As the National Institutes of Health (NIH) noted, "The prevalence of peanut allergy increased 3.5-fold over the past two decades, reaching 1.4–2% in Europe and the United States." So it's only natural that parents are weary when giving their babies peanuts or peanut butter for the first time. But, as a new study found, giving infants small amounts of peanut products may actually protect them in the future.
On May 28, the journal NEJM Evidence published a new study that followed 500 children from infancy to age 12. It showed that compared to having children avoid peanuts altogether, the kids who were started on peanuts in infancy and continued to consume them had a 71% reduced rate of peanut allergy in adolescence.
“Today’s findings should reinforce parents’ and caregivers’ confidence that feeding their young children peanut products beginning in infancy according to established guidelines can provide lasting protection from peanut allergy,” Jeanne Marrazzo, M.D., M.P.H., and director at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, shared in a statement. “If widely implemented, this safe, simple strategy could prevent tens of thousands of cases of peanut allergy among the 3.6 million children born in the United States each year.”
Related: How to Dine Out Safely With Food Allergies
This study, the NIH explained, was the culmination of the LEAP-Trio study, which included the findings of the Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) clinical trial and the LEAP-On study. It explained that during the LEAP trial, "half of the participants regularly consumed peanut products from infancy until age 5 years, while the other half avoided peanut during that period." During that trial, the researchers found that early introduction of peanut products also reduced the risk of peanut allergy at age 5 by 81%. Children from the LEAP trial who then participated in the LEAP-On study were asked to then avoid peanut products from ages 5 to 6. But even with forgoing peanuts, the researchers found that children were still protected from the allergy.
“Peanut allergy develops very early in most children between six and 12 months of life. If you want to prevent a disease, this needs to be done before the disease develops,” Gideon Lack, a professor of pediatric allergy at King’s College London and an author of the study, shared with CNN. “This biological phenomenon is based on an immunological principle known as oral tolerance induction. We have known for many decades that young mice or other experimental animals who are fed foods such as egg or milk or peanut cannot develop these allergies later.”
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Compared to having children avoid peanuts altogether, the kids who were started on peanuts in infancy and continued to consume them had a 71% reduced rate of peanut allergy in adolescence.As for how parents can implement these findings, the American Academy of Pediatrics set out guidelines, including recommending "that the highest risk infants — those with severe eczema and/or egg allergy — be introduced to peanut as early as 4–6 months of age, following successful feeding of other solid food(s) to ensure the infant is developmentally ready." It added that "allergy testing is strongly advised prior to peanut introduction for this group" and that it should be done under the supervision of a physician.
Related: The Difference Between Natural and Conventional Peanut Butter
The organization also states that "infants with mild to moderate eczema, a group also at increased risk of peanut allergy, should be introduced to peanut 'around 6 months of age, in accordance with family preferences and cultural practices, to reduce the risk of peanut allergy,'" and that infants without eczema or food allergy who are not at increased risk be introduced to peanut “freely” with other solid foods and "in accordance with family preferences and cultural practices." See all the guidelines here, which are also handy to have in the back of your mind when you speak to your family doctor.
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