Advice to feed babies peanuts early and often helped 60,000 kids avoid allergies, study finds

DANGEROUS PEANUT ALLERGIES IN CHILDREN. THERE’S NEW EVIDENCE PARENTS CAN DO SOMETHING TO PREVENT THEM. HERE TO EXPLAIN IS DOCTOR SCOTT HADLAND. HE’S CHIEF OF ADOLESCENT AND YOUNG ADULT MEDICINE AT MASS GENERAL FOR CHILDREN. DOCTOR HADLAND, GOOD TO SEE YOU. GOOD TO SEE YOU, TOO. ALL RIGHT, SO LET’S START WITH THE STUDY. WHAT DID IT FIND? WELL, THIS IS A STUDY THAT’S ACTUALLY GOT AN EXTENSION OF FINDINGS FROM A PREEXISTING STUDY. AND JUST TO KIND OF GO BACK IN TIME A LITTLE BIT, WHEN I FIRST STARTED MY PEDIATRIC RESIDENCY TRAINING, 15 YEARS AGO, WE USED TO TELL PARENTS NOT TO GIVE THEIR YOUNG BABIES PEANUTS FOR FEAR THAT THEY MIGHT DEVELOP A PEANUT ALLERGY. WELL, FAST FORWARD TO 2015. THERE WAS THIS LANDMARK STUDY THAT CAME OUT IN WHICH THEY TOOK KIDS WHO WERE AT HIGH RISK FOR DEVELOPING PEANUT ALLERGIES, AND IN THE FIRST YEAR OF LIFE DIVIDED THEM INTO TWO GROUPS. ONE GROUP IN WHICH WE TOLD PARENTS THE SAME THING WE ALWAYS DID DON’T GIVE THEM PEANUTS. IN THE FIRST YEAR OF LIFE, AND A SECOND GROUP IN WHICH WE ACTUALLY ASKED THE PARENTS TO INTRODUCE PEANUTS AT A YOUNG AGE. AND LO AND BEHOLD, ONCE THOSE KIDS TURNED FIVE, THE KIDS THAT WERE INTRODUCED TO PEANUTS IN THAT FIRST YEAR OF LIFE WERE DRAMATICALLY LESS LIKELY TO HAVE PEANUT ALLERGIES. SO THIS WEEK’S STUDY IS AN EXTENSION WHERE THOSE KIDS ARE NOW 12 YEARS OF AGE, AND RESEARCHERS FOUND THAT EVEN ALL THIS TIME LATER, MANY YEARS LATER, AT THE AGE OF 12, THOSE KIDS THAT HAD PEANUTS INTRODUCED IN THAT FIRST YEAR OF LIFE WERE ABOUT ONE THIRD IS LIKELY TO HAVE A PEANUT ALLERGY. SO THIS TOTALLY TURNS EVERYTHING ON OUR HEADS. IT TELLS US WE NEED TO BE INTRODUCING THESE ALLERGENS VERY EARLY IN LIFE. SO YOU THINK WE’VE SHELTERED. WE SHELTERED KIDS FOR TOO LONG. THERE WAS THAT IDEA THAT YOU DON’T EXPOSE THEM TO ANYTHING, BUT MAYBE NOW WE SHOULD, RIGHT? RIGHT. I THINK THIS IS AN INSTANCE WHERE WE DID THE RIGHT STUDY TO SHOW THAT THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE SHOULD BE DOING, IS INTRODUCING THESE ALLERGENS AT A YOUNG AGE. SO WHAT’S THE SAFEST WAY TO EXPOSE KIDS? WHAT YOU WANT TO DO IS INTRODUCE ALLERGENS LIKE PEANUTS EARLY IN LIFE, BETWEEN THE AGES OF IDEALLY 4 TO 6 MONTHS. NOW IT’S HARD TO GIVE A KID THAT AGE PEANUT BUTTER, RIGHT? SO YOU WANT TO WAIT UNTIL THEY’RE STARTING TO TAKE OTHER FOODS. MAYBE THEY’RE TAKING CEREALS, FRUITS, VEGETABLES. ONCE THEY’RE AT THAT POINT, YOU CAN TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF EITHER BREAST MILK OR FORMULA OR, YOU KNOW, SOME RICE CEREAL AND PUT A LITTLE BIT OF PEANUT BUTTER IN THERE AND THEN MIX IT TOGETHER AND FEED IT TO THEM AND SEE IF IT GOES OKAY. AND IF IT DOES, THEN GRADUALLY INCREASE OVER THE DAYS THAT COME, THE AMOUNT OF PEANUTS THAT YOU GIVE. AND THAT’S HOW YOU INTRODUCE SOMETHING. SO PEANUTS SEEM TO BE KIND OF AT THE TOP OF THE LIST WHEN IT COMES TO THE VOLUME OF PEOPLE WITH A SERIOUS ALLERGY, BUT THERE’S MANY OTHER ALLERGENS, AS YOU KNOW, WITH THIS POTENTIALLY WORK FOR SOME OF THOSE OTHER ALLERGENS. THINGS LIKE EGGS OR SHELLFISH OR, YOU KNOW, PET HAIR, PET DANDER. YEAH, THERE’S A WHOLE LIST OF THEM, RIGHT? SOY, WHEAT DANDER WITH THE OATMEAL. JUST GET A DOG. BUT BUT YOU KNOW, TO YOUR POINT, THERE ARE LOTS OF DIFFERENT FOOD ALLERGENS AND A LOT OF THEM ARE REALLY COMMON. AND SO WE THINK, YES, I MEAN, TO BE CLEAR, THE STUDIES HAVE REALLY FOCUSED ON PEANUTS, BUT I THINK THE PRINCIPLE HERE IS THAT WHEN WE INTRODUCE KIDS TO THESE ALLERGENS DURING THAT 4 TO 6 MONTH AGE OF LIFE, WE PROBABLY ARE HELPING TO PROTECT THEM AGAINST HAVING ALLERGIES IN THE LONG TERM. IS IT EQUIVALENT TO LIKE A VACCINE? RIGHT. YOU DO A SMALL DOSE PERHAPS, AND THEN YOUR BODY IS ABLE TO TO TO ACCOMMODATE IT OR TO FIGHT IT OFF. YEAH, I THINK THE MECHANISM IS IS DIFFERENT, BUT YOU CAN SORT OF THINK ABOUT IT IN THE SAME WAY. IN THIS CASE, YOU’RE ACTUALLY TRYING TO GET THE BODY NOT TO HAVE A REACTION TO A THING. VACCINES ARE A LITTLE DIFFERENT BECAUSE YOU’RE ACTUALLY TRYING TO GET THEM TO HAVE A REACTION, BUT IT’S THE SAME IDEA. INTRODUCIN

Updated: 9:55 AM CDT Oct 20, 2025

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Advice to feed babies peanuts early and often helped 60,000 kids avoid allergies, study finds

Updated: 9:55 AM CDT Oct 20, 2025

Editorial Standards ⓘ

A decade after a landmark study proved that feeding peanut products to young babies could prevent development of life-threatening allergies, new research finds the change has made a big difference in the real world.About 60,000 children have avoided developing peanut allergies after guidance first issued in 2015 upended medical practice by recommending introducing the allergen to infants starting as early as 4 months.“That’s a remarkable thing, right?” said Dr. David Hill, an allergist and researcher at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and author of a study published Monday in the medical journal Pediatrics. Hill and colleagues analyzed electronic health records from dozens of pediatric practices to track diagnoses of food allergies in young children before, during and after the guidelines were issued.“I can actually come to you today and say there are less kids with food allergy today than there would have been if we hadn't implemented this public health effort," he added.The researchers found that peanut allergies in children ages 0 to 3 declined by more than 27% after guidance for high-risk kids was first issued in 2015 and by more than 40% after the recommendations were expanded in 2017.The effort hasn't yet reduced an overall increase in food allergies in the U.S. in recent years. About 8% of children are affected, including more than 2% with a peanut allergy.Peanut allergy is caused when the body’s immune system mistakenly identifies proteins in peanuts as harmful and releases chemicals that trigger allergic symptoms, including hives, respiratory symptoms and, sometimes, life-threatening anaphylaxis.For decades, doctors had recommended delaying feeding children peanuts and other foods likely to trigger allergies until age 3. But in 2015, Gideon Lack at King’s College London, published the groundbreaking Learning Early About Peanut Allergy, or LEAP, trial.Lack and colleagues showed that introducing peanut products in infancy reduced the future risk of developing food allergies by more than 80%. Later analysis showed that the protection persisted in about 70% of kids into adolescence.The study immediately sparked new guidelines urging early introduction of peanuts — but putting them into practice has been slow.Only about 29% of pediatricians and 65% of allergists reported following the expanded guidance issued in 2017, surveys found.Confusion and uncertainty about the best way to introduce peanuts early in life led to the lag, according to a commentary that accompanied the study. Early on, medical experts and parents alike questioned whether the practice could be adopted outside of tightly controlled clinical settings.The data for the analysis came from a subset of participating practice sites and may not represent the entire U.S. pediatric population, noted the commentary, led by Dr. Ruchi Gupta, a child allergy expert at Northwestern University.However, the new research offers “promising evidence that early allergen introduction is not only being adopted but may be making a measurable impact,” the authors concluded.Advocates for the 33 million people in the U.S. with food allergies welcomed signs that early introduction of peanut products is catching on.“This research reinforces what we already know and underscores a meaningful opportunity to reduce the incidence and prevalence of peanut allergy nationwide,” said Sung Poblete, chief executive of the nonprofit group Food Allergy Research & Education, or FARE.The new study emphasizes the current guidance, updated in 2021, which calls for introducing peanuts and other major food allergens between four and six months, without prior screening or testing, Hill said. Parents should consult their pediatricians about any questions.“It doesn’t have to be a lot of the food, but little tastes of peanut butter, milk-based yogurt, soy-based yogurts and tree butters,” he said. “These are really good ways to allow the immune system exposure to these allergenic foods in a safe way.”Tiffany Leon, 36, a Maryland registered dietician and director at FARE, introduced peanuts and other allergens early to her own sons, James, 4, and Cameron, 2.At first, Leon’s own mother was shocked at the advice to feed babies such foods before the age of 3, she said. But Leon explained how the science had changed.“As a dietician, I practice evidence-based recommendations,” she said. “So when someone told me, ‘This is how it’s done now, these are the new guidelines,’ I just though, OK, well, this is what we’re going to do.”

About 60,000 children have avoided developing peanut allergies after guidance first issued in 2015 upended medical practice by recommending introducing the allergen to infants starting as early as 4 months.

“That’s a remarkable thing, right?” said Dr. David Hill, an allergist and researcher at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and author of a study in the medical journal Pediatrics. Hill and colleagues analyzed electronic health records from dozens of pediatric practices to track diagnoses of food allergies in young children before, during and after the guidelines were issued.

“I can actually come to you today and say there are less kids with food allergy today than there would have been if we hadn't implemented this public health effort," he added.

The researchers found that peanut allergies in children ages 0 to 3 declined by more than 27% after guidance for high-risk kids was first issued in 2015 and by more than 40% after the recommendations were expanded in 2017.

The effort hasn't yet reduced an overall increase in food allergies in the U.S. in recent years. About 8% of children are affected, including more than 2% with a peanut allergy.

Peanut allergy is caused when the body’s immune system mistakenly identifies proteins in peanuts as harmful and releases chemicals that trigger allergic symptoms, including hives, respiratory symptoms and, sometimes, life-threatening anaphylaxis.

For decades, doctors had recommended delaying feeding children peanuts and other foods likely to trigger allergies until age 3. But in 2015, Gideon Lack at King’s College London, published the groundbreaking or LEAP, trial.

Lack and colleagues showed that introducing peanut products in infancy reduced the future risk of developing food allergies by more than 80%. Later analysis showed that the protection persisted in about 70% of kids into adolescence.

The study immediately sparked new guidelines urging early introduction of peanuts — but putting them into practice has been slow.

Only about 29% of pediatricians and 65% of allergists reported following the expanded guidance issued in 2017, surveys found.

Confusion and uncertainty about the best way to introduce peanuts early in life led to the lag, according to a commentary that accompanied the study. Early on, medical experts and parents alike questioned whether the practice could be adopted outside of tightly controlled clinical settings.

The data for the analysis came from a subset of participating practice sites and may not represent the entire U.S. pediatric population, noted the commentary, led by Dr. Ruchi Gupta, a child allergy expert at Northwestern University.

However, the new research offers “promising evidence that early allergen introduction is not only being adopted but may be making a measurable impact,” the authors concluded.

Advocates for the 33 million people in the U.S. with food allergies welcomed signs that early introduction of peanut products is catching on.

“This research reinforces what we already know and underscores a meaningful opportunity to reduce the incidence and prevalence of peanut allergy nationwide,” said Sung Poblete, chief executive of the nonprofit group Food Allergy Research & Education, or FARE.

The new study emphasizes the current guidance, updated in 2021, which calls for introducing peanuts and other major food allergens between four and six months, without prior screening or testing, Hill said. Parents should consult their pediatricians about any questions.

“It doesn’t have to be a lot of the food, but little tastes of peanut butter, milk-based yogurt, soy-based yogurts and tree butters,” he said. “These are really good ways to allow the immune system exposure to these allergenic foods in a safe way.”

Tiffany Leon, 36, a Maryland registered dietician and director at FARE, introduced peanuts and other allergens early to her own sons, James, 4, and Cameron, 2.

At first, Leon’s own mother was shocked at the advice to feed babies such foods before the age of 3, she said. But Leon explained how the science had changed.

“As a dietician, I practice evidence-based recommendations,” she said. “So when someone told me, ‘This is how it’s done now, these are the new guidelines,’ I just though, OK, well, this is what we’re going to do.”

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