We’ve posted here, many times in the past, that the rise in Peanut (and other allergies) in children could be stemmed by application of a simple method… Give your kids a little Peanut Butter every day. But it seems parents are not keen to try the tip, although it is now an official recommendation…
Better to be safe than sorry…
Back in January, we reported that U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has issued a set of clinical guidelines to aid health care providers in the early introduction of peanut-containing foods to infants to prevent the development of peanut allergy.
But, according to a new survey just published in Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), respondents were asked about their willingness to try early peanut introduction to prevent peanut allergies and their familiarity with the guidelines.
What they did and what they found…
Researchers surveyed 1,000 pregnant women and 1,000 new mothers. They found that many new or prospective mothers were either unaware of the new guidelines, or didn’t care about them.
“Since early peanut introduction is a relatively new idea, we were not surprised to find that more than half (53 percent) of those surveyed said following the guidelines was of no or limited importance,” said allergist Matthew Greenhawt, MD, MBA, MSc, chair of the ACAAI Food Allergy Committee and Lead Author of the survey. “We saw that, overall, 61 percent of respondents had no or minimal concern about their child developing a food allergy, and only 31 percent of respondents were willing to introduce peanut-containing foods before or around 6 months.”
Early introduction is a key recommendation of the guidelines.
“The new guidelines are a breakthrough for preventing Peanut allergy,” says Allergist Edmond Chan, MD, ACAAI member and Co-author of the survey. “But we’re still working on helping parents and pediatricians understand how important the guidelines are for preventing Peanut allergies. Food allergies are scary, so it’s understandable that parents would hesitate to introduce a food they might see as dangerous. In our survey, only 49 percent of the respondents were willing to allow their child to be skin tested, and just 44 percent were willing to allow an oral food challenge before a year of age to help facilitate early introduction. Parents should consult with their pediatrician to help walk them through the process of early Peanut introduction for their infant.”
Once again, new parents…
New parents should look at the guidelines (linked above), and seriously consider having their kids tested early for Peanut sensitivity. And if a sensitivity does show up, to consult their pediatrician about supervised early introduction and desensitization.
~ Maggie J.