How to prevent peanut allergies: feed babies peanuts in their first year, doctors now say
- Report from the American Academy of Paediatrics says to introduce peanut-based foods before a child’s first birthday, even as early as four months
- ‘I would personally introduce it as early as a baby is developmentally ready to eat solid foods,’ report’s co-author says
Paediatricians now recommend introducing peanut-based foods to infants before their first birthday to prevent peanut allergies, according to a report from the American Academy of Paediatrics.
Greer acknowledged that the current recommendation is a shift from earlier guidance that parents “shouldn’t introduce any allergic foods to infants before 12 months, and some even said before two years.”
Greer said that introducing these foods to infants before they turn one can help the baby’s body develop a tolerance to them. “Introduce the foods before 12 months, for sure,” he said. “Everybody agrees on that. The average age of introduction [in the studies] was seven months, but was done as early as four months.”
An initial report on the topic was published around 2008, Greer explained, and since that time, new-found evidence required a revision.
Some parents may be sceptical of this news since some were told as recently as five years ago not to introduce peanut-based foods to their infant. But Greer explains that what was advised a couple of years ago “wasn’t based on scientific information, but expert opinion”.