Can You Prevent Peanut Allergies?

Peanut is the most common food allergy affecting an estimated 1 in 50 children.

An exciting development in the field of allergy and immunology is the discovery more recently that early introduction of peanuts is associated with a dramatic-- at the level of 70% to 80% reduction-- of the risk of becoming allergic to peanuts in high-risk children.

We used to say that for high-risk children, we should avoid introducing peanuts early in life to reduce the rate of sensitization.

However, if you have a high-risk child, that is a child, for instance, who has severe eczema, or who has already developed egg allergy, it would be appropriate to take your child to a board-certified allergist to determine whether they would be a candidate for diagnostic evaluation with skin testing, and then an in-office challenge with peanut, and then continual exposure to peanut in the diet as the child gets older.