Combat allergies by feeding infants peanuts and eggs
FEEDING peanuts and eggs to babies as young as four months may reduce their chances of developing allergies as they get older, experts have found.
A British study, based on data from more than 200000 children, suggests that giving infants eggs to eat when they are between the age of four and six months could slash their risk of developing an egg allergy by 40 percent.
And feeding them peanut butter between the ages of four and 11 months could reduce their risk of peanut allergy by 70 percent.
The research, led by Imperial College London, suggested that exposing children to the foodstuffs while they are still young gives them a long-lasting defence. Allergies to nuts, eggs, milk, wheat and other foods affect around one in 20 children in the UK – and numbers are on the rise.
The British Food Standards Agency, which commissioned the study, is reviewing its guidelines on infant feeding and is expected to issue new advice on allergies. At the moment it advises that babies should not eat any solid food before the age of six months. But a growing body of evidence suggests that exposing babies to certain foods before this age could help prime their immune systems.
The Imperial team analysed 146 previous research papers in the biggest-ever review of the evidence, published in the JAMA medical journal.
In the past, health officials have warned that parents should delay giving their babies peanuts and eggs until the age of one, worried that they could suffer severe allergies if exposed in infancy. That advice was withdrawn in 2008, and parents were told they could give their children the foods from six months – as long as they do not have a family history of allergies.
Study leader Dr Robert Boyle, from the department of medicine at Imperial, said: “This new analysis pools all existing data, and suggests introducing eggs and peanuts at an early age may prevent the development of egg and peanut allergies, the two most common childhood food allergies.
“Until now we have not been advising parents to give these foods to young babies, and have even advised parents to delay giving allergenic foods such as eggs, peanuts, fish and wheat to their infants.”
The Food Standards Agency, however, stressed that the study is not conclusive and warned parents to continue to follow its existing advice until new guidance is issued.
A spokesman said: “Families should continue to follow the government’s advice to breastfeed exclusively for the first six months.”