You hear a lot about children and peanut allergies these days. Schools have peanut free tables in the lunch room. I was on a flight one time when the flight attendant announced there would be no packets of nuts dispensed as there was a child with an allergy on board. Product labels warn if the factory also processed foods containing peanuts. No wonder. The possible risk of exposure is frightening, possibly deadly.
But...recent news questions the current belief that one should prevent exposure to the nuts. I am just copying and pasting here recent news.
A study suggesting that exposing kids at risk for peanut allergy to peanuts may actually help prevent an allergy was covered by all three of last night’s national news broadcasts for a total of more than four minutes. The study also received extensive coverage online and in print. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which provided funding for the trial, is quoted in nearly every article. Most sources tout the study, with some calling the findings a “landmark” or “ground-breaking.”
But...recent news questions the current belief that one should prevent exposure to the nuts. I am just copying and pasting here recent news.
A study suggesting that exposing kids at risk for peanut allergy to peanuts may actually help prevent an allergy was covered by all three of last night’s national news broadcasts for a total of more than four minutes. The study also received extensive coverage online and in print. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which provided funding for the trial, is quoted in nearly every article. Most sources tout the study, with some calling the findings a “landmark” or “ground-breaking.”
The CBS Evening News (2/23, story 5, 1:56, Pelley) reported, “A new medical study...could transform the way doctors prevent peanut allergies. Turns out keeping kids away from peanuts may be the wrong thing to do.” ABC World News (2/23, story 6, 1:42, Muir) and NBC Nightly News (2/23, story 4, 0:31, Holt) also discussed the study during their respective broadcasts.
The AP (2/24, Marchione) reports that the research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, “involved more than 600 children ages 4 months to 11 months old,” all of whom “were thought to be at risk for peanut allergy because they were allergic to eggs or had eczema.”
The New York Times (2/24, Pollack) “Well” blog reports that these children “were randomly assigned either to be regularly fed food that contained peanuts or to be denied such food.” Those “feeding patterns continued until the children were 5 years old.”
USA Today (2/24, Szabo) reports that “babies regularly given peanuts for at least four years cut their risk of peanut allergy by an average of 81%, compared with children who avoided peanuts.”
These “results are ‘without precedent,’ said” Dr. Fauci, who added that “the results have the potential to transform how we approach food allergy prevention.”
USA Today (2/24, Szabo) reports that “babies regularly given peanuts for at least four years cut their risk of peanut allergy by an average of 81%, compared with children who avoided peanuts.”
These “results are ‘without precedent,’ said” Dr. Fauci, who added that “the results have the potential to transform how we approach food allergy prevention.”
The Washington Post (2/24, Bernstein) “To Your Health” blog reports, “An accompanying editorial described the research as a ‘landmark study,’ called for quick issuance of new guidelines on peanut consumption by children and recommended that some infants between the ages of four and eight months who are at risk for the allergy be started on small amounts of peanut protein.”
I WOULDN'T FOLLOW THIS ADVICE WITHOUT TALKING TO MY DOCTOR!
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