A new study suggests that many, if not most peanut allergies can be prevented by feeding young children food containing peanuts beginning in infancy, rather than avoiding such foods.
An editorial published Monday in The New England Journal of Medicine, along with the study, called the results “so compelling” and the rise of peanut allergies “so alarming” that guidelines for how to feed infants at risk of peanut allergies should be revised soon.
The study “clearly indicates that the early introduction of peanut dramatically decreases the risk of development of peanut allergy,” said the editorial, by Dr. Rebecca S. Gruchalla of the University of Texas.
Pediatricians caution that parents should not feed whole peanuts to infants because of the choking risk, but rather peanut butter or other foods.
Some other studies have also found that earlier feeding of allergy-inducing foods was associated with lower allergy rates. But such observational studies are not definitive because there could be unexplored factors that account for the differences.