Feeding babies peanut butter and eggs may reduce allergies

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 200,000 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 per cent.

And feeding them peanut butter between the ages of four and 11 months could reduce their risk of peanut allergy by 70 per cent.

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 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 That advice was withdrawn in 2008, and parents were told they could give their children the foods from six months – as long as they do not have a family history of allergies.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 egg and peanut at an early age may prevent the development of egg and peanut allergy, 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 egg, peanut, fish and wheat to their infant.’

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 current long-standing advice to exclusively breastfeed for around the first six months.’

Professor Graham Roberts, an expert in paediatric allergy at the University of Southampton, urged caution: ‘If you have a baby with severe eczema or a food allergy, they should be assessed in a children’s allergy clinic. This should include allergy testing for peanut and egg allergy. If testing is negative, the paediatrician may recommend that you introduce peanut and egg into your baby’s diet.’