Peanut allergy affects about 0.6 per cent of pre-school children in Hong Kong and appears to be increasing.
Severe allergic reactions after eating peanuts can kill. There is no way to prevent the onset in childhood of this type of allergy. Therefore, a new study has attracted international attention ("Early exposure beats nut allergies", February 25).
It showed the successful prevented development of peanut allergy in high-risk babies before they became allergic by feeding them peanut-based products at least three times a week until they were five.
There was an unprecedented eight-fold reduction in the numbers of children who subsequently developed peanut allergy who were fed peanut-containing foods, compared to those who avoided peanuts in their diet. This ground-breaking research proves that food allergies can be prevented through dietary manipulation during a window of opportunity in infancy.
These findings have enormous public health interest, not only for peanut allergy, but maybe for other food allergies affecting 3-8 per cent Hong Kong children. It is a moot point whether the dramatic increase in peanut allergy in some countries has been caused partly by widespread peanut avoidance. Israeli infants, for example, consume a lot of peanut-based foods and have a low prevalence of peanut allergy.
Implementation of a preventative strategy with early introduction of peanut (and other foods) in high-risk infants requires a cultural shift in attitude and cannot be done in the home safely without prior medical advice and supervision.