Feed infants peanut butter to avoid allergy
Lowering guidelines to less than six months could prevent 10,000 diagnoses a year, say scientists
Infants should be fed peanut butter before they are six months old to reduce their chances of developing a peanut allergy, scientists have found. Official advice previously stated babies should avoid peanut products until they are three years old, while NHS guidance is to introduce peanuts to a baby’s diet after six months. A study by King’s College London has found the earlier that babies can start being fed peanut products the less likely they are to develop a peanut allergy as children.
INFANTS should be fed peanut butter before they are six months old to reduce their chances of developing a peanut allergy, scientists have found.
Official advice previously stated babies should avoid peanut products until they are three years old, while current NHS guidance is to introduce peanuts to a baby’s diet after six months.
A study by King’s College London has found the earlier that babies can start eating peanut products the less likely they are to develop a peanut allergy as children.
The majority of peanut allergies develop as a result of not being exposed to the food in infancy and can be avoided by early exposure.
Peanut allergies are also more common in people with eczema and the scientists recommend these children should be introduced to peanut products by four months of age to reduce their chance of developing the allergy.
This four-to-six month period has been dubbed the “window of opportunity” to curb peanut allergies.
Parents are advised to give a heaped teaspoon of smooth peanut butter, broken up with baby’s milk, three times a week – but not whole peanuts or chopped nuts as they pose a choking hazard. Reactions to peanuts at this age are very rare and most are minor, the scientists say.
Scientists took data from around 2,000 people to examine how diet altered the population-level prevalence of allergies.
About 2 per cent of British children have a peanut allergy, equating to around one in 50. Experts say that by giving all children some form of peanuts between four and six months would cut this by 77 per cent.
They found that this could reduce the number of children developing the allergy by 10,000 per year.
However, waiting to introduce peanuts into a child’s diet until 12 months of age would lead to only a 33 per cent reduction.
Graham Roberts, professor in paediatric allergy medicine at the University of Southampton, said: “Looking back with all the data we’ve got now from the randomised control trials, it does look as if the epidemic of peanut allergy is because we haven’t been feeding infants and small children peanuts. That’s because we now all have all this great, randomised controlled trial data that we can come to that conclusion.”
Ms Mary Feeney, paediatric dietitian at King’s College London, said: “The research suggests all babies should be introduced to peanut products between four and six months of age and babies with eczema should be introduced to that product at four months of age.
“This is different from the current governmental recommendations from 2018 which is to start peanut products from around six months. Babies should also be developmentally ready before they are introduced. Peanut butter introduction should be a part of normal complementary feeding. We don’t want to medicalise this.”
Parents should start getting their child used to solid foods with vegetables, fruits and cereals first before moving on to peanut products, she added.
Researchers advise mothers to breastfeed for at least the first six months of their child’s life as well as introducing peanuts to their diet from four to six months.
The researchers are urging health officials to take their findings on board and to change the official recommendations.
Prof Roberts said: “The advice has changed multiple times in the last two to three years. At one stage it was don’t eat peanuts until you’re over three.”
“That has come down to the second half of the first year of life, but it has changed multiple times. I think it’s fair to say that healthcare professionals are confused and parents and families definitely.
“The Department of Health is reviewing nutrition in one to five year olds and there will be a report coming out, presumably in the not too distant future.”
The results are published in