Is it worth introducing hazelnuts into the child’s diet as soon as possible? The results of a recently published study suggest that peanuts given during early feeding can help prevent the development of peanut allergy in the long term. Dr. Krisztina Moric, allergist and clinical immunologist at the Allergy Center, summarized the benefits of the early introduction of peanuts.
Benefits of early allergen consumption
Sponsored and co-funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). study the results provide convincing evidence that early allergen consumption can prevent the development of peanut allergy in the long term. Half of the children between the ages of 4 and 11 months who were selected for the clinical trial and had a high risk of peanut allergy consumed peanut products regularly (at least 6 grams per week) from infancy to the age of five, while the other half avoided the allergen during this period.
Researchers found that early introduction of peanut-containing foods reduced the risk of developing an allergy by age 5 by 81 percent. Another interesting addition to the research is that for a year after that, hazelnuts were left out of the diet of all test subjects. As evidenced by the results, children who were introduced to peanuts during early feeding remained protected from peanut allergy even at the age of 6. But does the protection gained by eating peanuts early on last? – the investigation also answered this question.
According to the results, while 15.4 percent of the participants in the group avoiding peanuts developed an allergy, only 4.4 percent of the children who consumed peanuts from infancy suffered from peanut allergies by adolescence. In other words, regular, early peanut consumption reduced the risk of peanut allergy in adolescence by 71 percent compared to the other group. The protective effect of early peanut consumption was maintained even if the affected individuals did not consume peanuts or consumed them in different amounts during childhood and early adolescence.
The domestic recommendation also calls for the early introduction of peanuts
-Food allergies are a growing concern all over the world, and the introduction of hazelnuts into the diet causes especially great anxiety among parents, says Dr. Kristina Moric. The misconceptions about peanuts were dispelled by dr. Gideon Lack, a pediatrician and allergist at King’s College London, dispelled the investigation. He was the one who recognized that Israeli children had a lower incidence of peanut allergy than Jewish children of similar ancestry in the UK. His research also revealed that, unlike children in the UK, Israeli children start eating peanut-containing foods at an early age.
According to Doctor Moric, the previous attitude towards food allergy prevention has fundamentally changed. For a long time, experts believed that allergy-causing foods should be avoided in the early stages of feeding, in order to prevent the development of food allergies. However, we now know that by delaying the introduction of allergens, we increase the risk of developing allergies.
-According to EMMI’s latest 2019 professional guidelines for additional feeding, potentially allergenic foods can be introduced into the diet of healthy 5-6 month old children without further ado. In the case of babies with a high risk of allergies, you can start giving allergenic foods from the beginning of the 5th month, but for them, prior consultation with an allergist is definitely necessary so that the specialist can assess the exact risk of peanut allergy and give guidelines regarding the introduction of the allergen – he emphasizes dr. Kristina Moricdoctor of the Allergy Center.
Source: Allergy Center
Source: www.patikamagazin.hu
