Introduction of peanuts at four to six months can reduce risk of allergy, new analysis suggests
- 20 March 2023
- Healthcare News
- Research
A new analysis that looked at the optimal timing of introducing peanut products to babies to prevent peanut allergy suggests that a 77% reduction in peanut allergy could be achieved if peanut was introduced to all babies at four to six months of age.
The analysis, entitled Defining the window of opportunity and target populations to prevent peanut allergy, is published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Data from the Enquiring About Tolerance (EAT) study, Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) study and Peanut Allergy Sensitization (PAS) study were used to model the intervention in a general population.
Peanut allergy is estimated to affect 1 in 50 children in the UK. The analysis suggested that with every month of delayed introduction, the reduction in peanut allergy decreased. If peanut introduction was delayed to 12 months of age, peanut allergy was only reduced by 33%.
The analysis concluded that healthcare professionals should help parents introduce peanut products into their infants’ diet at four to six months of life.
Read the full research here.
