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Can “Early Introduction” Help Prevent Food Allergies in Babies?
January 2023
Author:
Jennifer Anderson, MSPH, RDN
Coauthors:
Hyemyung Kim, RD, CDN, CNSC, CLC
About Kids Eat in Color
Created by experts, Kids Eat in Color is the leading resource for families seeking evidence-based information and strategies on child nutrition and feeding.
Author:
Jennifer Anderson, MSPH, RDN
Coauthors:
Hyemyung Kim, RD, CDN, CNSC, CLC
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Inside: Got questions about infant allergen introduction? Many parents do. When and how to introduce your baby to peanuts and allergens is an important decision. Here, we give you some things to speak to your health care provider about.
You may be wondering when you should introduce peanuts and other food allergens to your infant. You may have heard conflicting information about allergen introduction and want to know what the best thing to do is.
This article will help you understand more about preventing food allergies and how and when to introduce allergenic foods to your baby.
There has been a large increase in food allergies over the past few decades. Although researchers are still exploring why this might be, there are some new things that they have learned in recent years.
Always speak with your child’s qualified health care provider
The following gives you some things to think about and speak to your child’s health care provider about. It is not medical advice.
If you believe your child has developed an allergic reaction or may develop allergies, you should speak with your child’s health care provider before introducing them to foods you are concerned about.
When should you introduce allergens to your baby?
Based on a recent landmark study exploring how to prevent peanut allergies, introducing peanuts to babies early was associated with a large reduction in how many of the babies became allergic to peanuts later. (1)
As a result of this study and others, most health care providers no longer recommend delaying the introduction of peanuts to babies. In fact, introducing peanuts early may prevent peanut allergies in some children.
Introducing peanuts around 6 months of age, but not before 4 months, to infants with severe eczema or egg allergy, and introducing egg to 6-month-old infants with atopic dermatitis may reduce their allergies to peanuts and eggs, respectively.
Should you introduce all foods to your baby early?
There is a little bit of research about introducing other allergens early (milk, peanut, sesame, fish, egg and wheat) to infants. In that research, introducing other foods also reduced some allergies. (2)
This research is early, however, and there is more that needs to be learned. At this time there is no evidence that introducing foods other than peanuts and eggs will prevent allergies to those other foods.
There is a study that is currently being conducted that is exploring whether introducing other allergens early (egg, peanut, walnut, cashew, soy and sesame) will reduce allergies in infants. We look forward to adding the results here once they are out.
In the meantime, exposing your child to allergens as you begin to feed them solid foods, or even a bit early, is a good thing to discuss with your child’s health care provider.
How to introduce allergens to babies early
If your health care provider does recommend starting allergens early with your infant, there are a few ways that you can introduce them to your child.
You can mix the allergen into something they are already eating or dilute it with a liquid to make it a thin puree.
For example, you can take peanut butter and mix it with breast milk or baby formula to make a thin liquid. Then you can give it to the baby to eat from a spoon.
If your infant is already eating solid foods, you can mix the allergen into something they are already eating, whether that is a puree or into something baked or cooked, like a pancake, if you are doing baby-led weaning.
Do allergen mix-in powders work?
There are some allergen introduction mix-ins that contain many allergens in one powder. It is unknown at this time whether these products prevent allergies.
Additionally, some powders have been found to not contain the allergens that they claim to contain. These products are currently not closely monitored.
Some of the mix-in powders also contain added sugars and sodium, which are not recommended for infants.
If you find a powder that you would like to feed to your infant, double check it with your child’s health care provider before starting it.
Feeding your baby can be an exciting time and introducing foods early or at the start of the typical eating time may be able to prevent some allergies in some children.
You may also like these articles about feeding babies
Created by experts, Kids Eat in Color is the leading resource for families seeking evidence-based information and strategies on child nutrition and feeding.
Jennifer Anderson is a registered dietitian and has a masters of science in public health from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. In 2019, she founded Kids Eat in Color®, a public health resource that improves child and family nutrition and mental health. Prior to starting Kids Eat in Color® she coordinated youth nutrition programs at a food bank, performed research in inner-city food deserts, and consulted for the USDA national office SNAP-Ed program. Her academic background is in public health nutrition, cultural anthropology, and economics.
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Inside: Got questions about infant allergen introduction? Many parents do. When and how to introduce your baby to peanuts and allergens is an important decision. Here, we give you some things to speak to your health care provider about.
You may be wondering when you should introduce peanuts and other food allergens to your infant. You may have heard conflicting information about allergen introduction and want to know what the best thing to do is.
This article will help you understand more about preventing food allergies and how and when to introduce allergenic foods to your baby.
There has been a large increase in food allergies over the past few decades. Although researchers are still exploring why this might be, there are some new things that they have learned in recent years.
Always speak with your child’s qualified health care provider
The following gives you some things to think about and speak to your child’s health care provider about. It is not medical advice.
If you believe your child has developed an allergic reaction or may develop allergies, you should speak with your child’s health care provider before introducing them to foods you are concerned about.
When should you introduce allergens to your baby?
Based on a recent landmark study exploring how to prevent peanut allergies, introducing peanuts to babies early was associated with a large reduction in how many of the babies became allergic to peanuts later. (1)
As a result of this study and others, most health care providers no longer recommend delaying the introduction of peanuts to babies. In fact, introducing peanuts early may prevent peanut allergies in some children.
What is the “early introduction” of allergens?
Most babies start eating solid foods around 6 months of age when they show signs of readiness.
Introducing peanuts around 6 months of age, but not before 4 months, to infants with severe eczema or egg allergy, and introducing egg to 6-month-old infants with atopic dermatitis may reduce their allergies to peanuts and eggs, respectively.
Should you introduce all foods to your baby early?
There is a little bit of research about introducing other allergens early (milk, peanut, sesame, fish, egg and wheat) to infants. In that research, introducing other foods also reduced some allergies. (2)
This research is early, however, and there is more that needs to be learned. At this time there is no evidence that introducing foods other than peanuts and eggs will prevent allergies to those other foods.
Introducing your baby to flavors before 6 months by flavor training may help them learn to like vegetables later.
There is a study that is currently being conducted that is exploring whether introducing other allergens early (egg, peanut, walnut, cashew, soy and sesame) will reduce allergies in infants. We look forward to adding the results here once they are out.
In the meantime, exposing your child to allergens as you begin to feed them solid foods, or even a bit early, is a good thing to discuss with your child’s health care provider.
How to introduce allergens to babies early
If your health care provider does recommend starting allergens early with your infant, there are a few ways that you can introduce them to your child.
You can mix the allergen into something they are already eating or dilute it with a liquid to make it a thin puree.
For example, you can take peanut butter and mix it with breast milk or baby formula to make a thin liquid. Then you can give it to the baby to eat from a spoon.
If your infant is already eating solid foods, you can mix the allergen into something they are already eating, whether that is a puree or into something baked or cooked, like a pancake, if you are doing baby-led weaning.
Do allergen mix-in powders work?
There are some allergen introduction mix-ins that contain many allergens in one powder. It is unknown at this time whether these products prevent allergies.
Additionally, some powders have been found to not contain the allergens that they claim to contain. These products are currently not closely monitored.
Some of the mix-in powders also contain added sugars and sodium, which are not recommended for infants.
If you find a powder that you would like to feed to your infant, double check it with your child’s health care provider before starting it.
Feeding your baby can be an exciting time and introducing foods early or at the start of the typical eating time may be able to prevent some allergies in some children.
You may also like these articles about feeding babies
References