Peanut butter-like products can save your children from THIS allergy

Researchers have said that feeding children peanut products from infancy until the age of five cuts the risk of developing a peanut allergy during later years of life. They found thatchildren who ate peanut pastes or puffed peanut snacks regularly from four to six months onwards were 71 per centless likely to have a peanut allergy at age 13 than those who avoided peanuts.

The latest study, known as the Leap-Trio trial, followed 508 of the children to an average age of 13, during which time they were free to eat or avoid peanuts as they wished.

What does it mean?

In the West, the prevalence of peanut allergy can be as high as 1 in 200 individuals in some populations.

In the United Kingdom, peanut allergy is present in between 0.4 to 0.6 per cent of the whole population.

Researchers say that this simple dietary intervention could prevent about 10,000 cases of potentially life-threatening peanut allergies each year in the UK alone and cut worldwide cases by 100,000 annually.

"I strongly recommend that babies are introduced to peanuts by four months if they have eczema and by six months if they don’t have eczema," Gideon Lack, professor of paediatric allergy at King’s College London told the Guardian.

Babies with eczema are more at risk of developing peanut allergies as traces of the food can penetrate the skin more easily.

Earlier work by the same researchers found that regular consumption of peanut products from infancy reduced the risk of peanut allergy at age five by 81 per cent, compared with children who avoided peanuts for the same period.

The results of the study published in NEJM Evidence also show that the protection remained intact even after the children stopped consuming peanut butter after the age of 5.

"You will prevent the vast majority of peanut allergy, but for those cases where you aren’t able to prevent it, you can identify the children earlier when treating them is much easier," Lack was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

"Once they are at seven, eight, nine months of age, you have really missed the boat. But even if you do miss the boat, you identify children who have peanut allergy early and can treat them with immunotherapy."

Peanut butter or peanut puffs could be given to children who were still breastfeeding once they were able to manage soft foods, according to the researchers.

(With inputs from agencies)