Feeding your baby eggs and peanuts at an early age may reduce his or her risk of developing allergies to those foods, according to an analysis of 70-years worth of studies.
Researchers in England analyzed 146 studies from the past 7 decades on the effects of feeding common allergens to babies, including eggs, peanuts, wheat and fish. The studies involved more than 200,000 children, although not all of the studies focused on eggs and peanuts.
According to the findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), babies who ate egg between 4 and 6 months old had a 40 percent lower risk of developing an egg allergy than children who first tried egg later in life.
For peanuts, the risk reduction was even greater: Babies fed peanuts between 4 and 11 months old were 70 percent less likely to develop a peanut allergy than children introduced to peanuts later, the analysis found.
Researchers did not find evidence that introducing fish or gluten (found in wheat) at an early age contributed to allergy declines for those foods.
The findings on eggs and peanuts contribute to mounting evidence that delaying the introduction of at least some allergenic foods may actually increase the risk of food allergies. In the past, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended not feeding these foods to infants until they reached 1 year old, but now says there’s not enough evidence to support that approach.
Experts suggest introducing new foods, including potential allergens (except cows milk), starting at 4 to 6 months. Potential allergens should be introduced one at a time. If your baby is at high risk of food allergies – including if he has eczema, an existing allergy or a family history of allergies – consult your doctor first.
The study review doesn’t tell us why introducing eggs and peanuts early may reduce allergies, nor the ideal timing or amount to use when feeding them to babies. Each study also had a different design and population, so it was difficult to draw sweeping conclusions for all children, the authors said. More research on the topic is still needed, they said.
Have you fed eggs and peanuts to your baby? Why, or why not?
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