CHILDREN AT RISK of developing a nut allergy are less likely to become allergic if they are fed food with peanuts in it in the first year of their lives.
That is the finding of a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine this week.
The prevalence of peanut allergy among children in Western countries has doubled in the past 10 years, and peanut allergy is becoming apparent in Africa and Asia.
The team from King’s College in London randomly assigned 640 infants with severe eczema, egg allergy, or both to consume or avoid peanuts until five years of age.
About 17% of the children who avoided peanuts developed peanut allergies, compared with only 3.2% of the children who ate peanuts, the researchers reported.
They say that increases in levels of peanut-specific IgG4 antibody occurred predominantly in the consumption group.
Professor Gideon Lack, who led the research said it goes against previous advice.
“This is an important clinical development and contravenes previous guidelines. Whilst these were withdrawn in 2008 in the UK and US, our study suggests that new guidelines may be needed to reduce the rate of peanut allergy in our children.”
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