Study: "Give babies peanut butter to cut allergy by 77%"

[kenny]

Potentially good news ... well ... for the future.

Giving young babies - between four and six months old - tiny tastes of smooth peanut butter could dramatically cut peanut allergies, say scientists.

Research shows there is a crucial opportunity during weaning to cut allergy cases by 77%.
They say the government's advice on weaning - which says no solids until around six months - needs to change.
Experts warn whole or chopped nuts and peanuts are a choking risk and should not be given to children under five.

They found the critical period to start was between four and six months, during which the allergy could be cut by 77%.
That is the equivalent of preventing 10,000 out of the roughly 13,000 cases of peanut allergy each year.
Delaying the introduction of peanut-based foods until the child was one-year-old would only cut allergy cases by 33%, according to the research

Source

Give babies peanut butter to cut allergy by 77%, study says

Research suggests there is a crucial window during weaning to lower the allergy risk.

www.bbc.com

 

[Piper70]

This is interesting because my sons, 32 and 29, were pre peanut allergies. Meaning they got peanut butter introduced before they turned one and never had any issues. But then peanut allergies blew up ( early to mid 90’s )and I wonder if those children had some exposure they might not have had reactions.

 

[doberman]

I did this way back in the late 80s/early 90s. I reasoned that it was similar to the studies that showed babies from homes that had pets have fewer allergies. My kids still love peanut butter.

The younger you are when exposed to something new, the better. It can be a language, a skill,...or peanut butter.

 

[Ally T]

I gave both my children smooth peanut butter on soft bread when they were weaning & neither have any allergies.

My SIL avoided anything & everything with her children, and one now has a peanut allergy & the other is lactose intolerant.

It maybe coincidence, but I have always stuck by my years old reasoning that a little exposure early on helps to aid tolerance.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Yes, both of my kids had peanut butter at a relatively young age. The peanut allergy didn’t seem to be a big deal then but got worse through the years. My MIL used to tell me how she had to cook for her young kids as there really were no jarred baby foods back then. Mashed up veggies and fruits - more labor intensive but surely better for them than the jarred baby food! Peanut butter was a staple for them too. I really think there is probably some merit to early exposure and I feel sorry for kids who develop nut allergies. Makes life more challenging for them!

 

[RMOO]

My daughter did this with her three children (now 6, 4, and 2 years old.) She would give it to them while in the pediatrician's waiting room, 15 minutes before their well-baby visit, just in case they had a reaction.

 

[dk168]

Being Chinese, I grew up eating peanut, sesame, soya, etc. from a very young age with no reported issues with food allergy later in life.

DK