New national guidelines say most children should start eating foods that contain peanuts when they are infants, especially babies at high risk of developing a peanut allergy. The recommendations from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases recommend introducing high risk babies.
Dr. Hugh Sampson, a professor of pediatrics at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai helped write the recommendations. “We’re saying not only it’s okay, we’re saying go do it. In these high risk children, we need to get peanut into their diet early to try to prevent peanut allergy, Dr. Sampson said.
The guidelines say high risk babies with severe eczema or egg allergy should be given peanut protein in the first 4 to 6 months. Dr. Sampson said, “I wish something like this would cure peanut allergy but you know it’s unlikely. I think we can significantly reduce the amount of peanut allergy.”
The new guidelines follow research that found early introduction to high risk babies prevented more than 80 percent from developing peanut allergies. Check with your child’s doctor before starting this therapy.