Updated recommendations to help thwart the peanut allergy epidemic

From the desk of Shelly Flais, MDTwenty or thirty years ago, it was rare to have a friend or classmate with a peanut allergy. Times have changed. The number of children in the U.S. with a peanut allergy has more than tripled between 1997 and 2008. These days anywhere from 6 to 9% of all kids have a food allergy of some kind, meaning in a typical classroom 2 or 3 kids can be affected. This is an issue near and dear to my heart, as 2 of my 4 kids have peanut allergies.Why has peanut allergy been on the rise? What can we do to prevent allergies? Food allergy research continues and has begun to shed new light on the issue. For several years, in an attempt to combat the rising epidemic, national medical organizations recommended that if an infant was at high risk for a peanut allergy (either because of family history or eczema), they should not eat peanut containing products until the 3rd birthday. Unfortunately, this advice to delay peanut introduction did not seem to impact the overall number of new cases of peanut allergy.This past winter, a new study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine that will change the recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI). The study looked at 642 children between 4 to 11 months of age who either had eczema or egg allergy, and were therefore at risk of developing an allergy to peanut. These children underwent allergy skin testing to peanut to ensure...
Source: Pediatric Health Associates - Category: Pediatrics Tags: Food Allergies Source Type: news