Solid food rethink on allergies

ALL babies should have egg and peanuts introduced to their diets in their first year of life to prevent food allergies, even if they are deemed to be high risk, experts say.

Guidelines developed by the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy recommend parents should start feeding solid foods to babies at around six months of age, preferably while they continue to breastfeed.

The society suggests egg and peanuts should be introduced by 12 months but not before four months. Once the foods are introduced, the guidelines recommend they should be continued twice weekly in the baby’s diet.

“Hydrolysed” infant formula – designed to be hypo-allergenic – is no longer recommended for the prevention of allergies.

The recommendations are outlined in the latest Medical Journal of Australia, published today. Lead author Preeti Joshi said food allergy rates in Australia were among the highest in the world.