If you want your kid to be free of peanut allergy, feed them peanuts, says a new study.
A clinical trial, led by Gideon Lack, M.D., of King's College London, found that Introduction of peanut products into the diets of infants at high risk of developing peanut allergy was safe and led to an 81 percent reduction in the subsequent development of the allergy.
Researchers had designed a study called Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP), based on observations that Israeli children have lower rates of peanut allergy compared to Jewish children of similar ancestry residing in the United Kingdom. Unlike children in the UK, Israeli children begin consuming peanut-containing foods early in life. The study tested the hypothesis that the very low rates of peanut allergy in Israeli children were a result of high levels of peanut consumption beginning in infancy.
LEAP compared two strategies to prevent peanut allergy-consumption or avoidance of dietary peanut-in infants who were at high risk of developing peanut allergy because they already had egg allergy and/or severe eczema, an inflammatory skin disorder.
The safety and effectiveness of early peanut consumption in this group remains unknown and requires further study. Dr. Lack said that parents of infants and young children with eczema or egg allergy should consult an allergist, pediatrician, or their general practitioner prior to feeding them peanut products.
The results appear in the current online issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
