Images: Gallo Images/Getty Images26 | JULY & AUGUST 2019
CHILDHOOD ALLERGIES have become
a major concern for parents in
recent years. The emergence of serious
reactions to foods, which can cause
a potentially life-threatening reaction,
is understandably frightening. To
complicate matters, it was recommended
to delay the introduction of any food
that may cause a reaction, to the extent
that doctors are seeing malnutrition in
middle-class children who are not getting
the nutrients they need, because parents
are cutting out so many food groups.
Until recently, it was recommended
that the best way to prevent the
development of allergy is to avoid
sensitising foods or other substances.
Allergies
THE LATEST
Is fear of allergies causing you to cut out certain
things from your baby’s diet? Don’t self-diagnose,
says Marina Petropulos, parenting expert and author
And in particular, that certain foods
should not be introduced before six
months of age because the infant
digestive system is porous, and
sensitising substances could cross the
gut barrier.
Yet the cases of childhood allergy
continued to increase, to the extent that
food made in factories where peanuts
have been used need to carry a warning.A CLOSER LOOK
Then, a remarkable change turned
everything upside down. The results
have been counter to previous thinking,
but the evidence is convincing. Allergy
to peanut affects one in 50 school-agedchildren in the USA, Canada, United
Kingdom, Australia, the European
Union and many other countries, with
huge implications.
Yet, peanut allergy is far less common
in children born in Israel, where they eat
peanut-containing foods from early on.
To compare, Jewish children of similar
ancestry living in the UK have a far
higher incidence of peanut allergy.
This prompted a closer look, and
the “Learning early about allergies to
peanut” (also known as the LEAP) study
was instigated.
The results, after five years of testing,
revealed exceptional new information.
“Early consumption is effective not