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Study: Peanut Consumption In Infancy Helps Prevent Peanut Allergy

Posted by Soulskill on from the reasons-to-force-feed-your-child-peanuts dept.

Mr D from 63 writes: According to a report from the Associated Press, "For years, parents of babies who seem likely to develop a peanut allergy have gone to extremes to keep them away from peanut-based foods. Now a major study suggests that is exactly the wrong thing to do. Here's the published paper in the New England Journal of Medicine. It's interesting how this peanut allergy fear is a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The situation involves a complete misconception of risk by many parents, and probably it doesn't stop at peanuts. Is there a bigger underlying problem here?

3 of 243 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Dumb question by sycodon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Helicopter Parents. Protecting them from everything and anything.

    Let them play in the mud, eat their own boogers, scrap their knees, eat bugs, roll in the grass and leaves even though the dogs poo there, etc.

    When you grow up in a plastic bubble, everything is your enemy.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
  2. Re:I refute by LWATCDR · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Let me explain this with science.
    You have two groups.
    One that is exposed to peanuts as infants.
    One that is not.
    Fewer children in the exposed group developed peanut allergies.
    In other words SOME peanut allergies can be prevented by early exposure.

    Your argument is the same as. "My uncle never smoked a day in his life and died of lung cancer. Smoking does not cause lung cancer".

    --
    See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
  3. Re:I got a butt chewing for giving my daughter hon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Honey is different as it can cause botulism poisoning in infants. It's not an allergen, but rather often harbors an actual amount of bacteria. In adults and children, the bacteria load is not harmful as the body can easily deal with it. In infants, the body reacts differently to botulism and it can occasionally kill them.

    http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/botulism.html

    That's why you were given the butt chewing. It's a very different situation to peanuts. Peanuts would be unsafe if they were covered in the same bacteria that honey harbors.