New research suggests that there are ways for parents to prevent allergies in their kids from becoming too severe later in their lives.
The study found that introducing children to food allergens early in their lives can help them in the future, but this may not be true for other types of allergies. Many different studies have observed this throughout the years.
Should You Introduce Allergens to Your Kids?
However, parents are typically concerned about how much of a particular allergen they should give their children and when this should be done. Some also have questions about other allergies, such as seasonal allergies, pet allergies, and skin reactions, and whether or not these could be prevented.
For context, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found that roughly 30% of all children in the United States have been diagnosed with allergies to certain things. This puts the kids at risk of various symptoms, such as hives, sneezing, and even life-threatening anaphylaxis, according to National Geographic.
A decade ago, doctors recommended that parents delay introducing common allergens to their children for the first few years of their lives. However, in 2015, the Learning about Peanut Allergy (LEAP) study provided strong evidence that it is beneficial to introduce peanuts to children when they are about four months old.
The main benefit of doing this so early in kids' lives is that it can decrease the risk of peanut allergies among children. Studies on the early introduction of eggs, cow's milk, and multiple common allergens have since shown similar results to the LEAP study.
Change in Official Guidelines
Because of these, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) decided to change its recommendations regarding the idea of delaying the introduction of food that are considered potential allergens to kids, Yale Medicine reported.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases took its guidelines a step further in 2017, encouraging the early introduction of peanuts to high-risk infants. Despite the studies, many parents are still unsure about giving their children potential allergens.
The situation has the potential to become worse as food allergies have become a growing concern for the public in the United States. Data showed that peanut allergy, precisely, is estimated to affect roughly 2% of children, which equates to about 1.5 million people who are under 18 years of age.
The director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, said the safe and simple strategy could prevent tens of thousands of cases of peanut allergies in the millions of children born in the U.S. if it is widely implemented, as per CNN.
