Can avoiding peanuts make children allergic?

Article in Daily Mail by Fiona MacRae, Science Reporter

Parents who shield their children from peanuts may increase their risk of developing a potentially fatal nut allergy, research suggests. Traditionally, health officials have advised parents to exclude food containing peanut-based products from a baby's diet. Many youngsters are also kept away from nappy creams and other baby products which use peanut oil. But after studying countries where the nuts are a staple food, experts fear such measures could make the situation worse.

Now, scientists are embarking on research to determine whether early exposure is in fact the key to protecting children from a deadly reaction.  Up to seven people die in Britain each year from an allergic reaction to peanuts. Such allergies have double in the past decade, and now affect more than one in 70 children. Around one in 50 children has a reaction to nuts of one type or another.

Allergy expert Professor Gideon Lack said parents have long been told to avoid peanuts. Obviously the risk of chiking means that babies and toddlers should not be given a whole nut. But other foods such as peanut butter, and cakes and biscuits containing peanut product, have also been advised against. 

Mothers with a history of allergy are also meant to stay away from peanut-based foods while breast-feeding.

Recent work, however, suggests that countries where babies are fed peanuts at a very early point have a much lower rate of peanut allergy, Professor Lack said. The scientist of King's College London and the MRC-Asthma UK allergy research centre, will lead the forthcoming study of 480 babies.

"Determinining whether avoidance or early exposure to peanuts prevents the development of peanut allergy and understanding how this happens will have important clinical implications", he added.

"Our study findings may result in a change to public health policy to prevent food allergies and will enable scientists to try and develop cures for children who already suffer from peanut allergy.

Professor Lack's study will follow the fortunes of babies deemed to be at high risk of developing peanut allergy. The younsters who already have eczema or egg allergies - conditions which ofter develop ahead of peanut allergy - will be divided into two groups.  Half will be regularly fed peanut based foods until they are three years old, eating between ten and 20 of the nuts a week. The others will be kept on a peanut-free diet.

The most common triggers for a severe allergic reation - known as anaphylaxis - are nuts, and particularly peanuts.  Other danger foods are fish, dairy products, latex, insect bites and more recently, kiwi fruit.

Doctors have written unprecedented numbers of prescriptions for adrenaline - to combat anaphylaxis - over the past two years. Last year, a record 153,820 emergency adrenaline injectors were issued compared with 99,325 in 2003 and 25,000 in 1995 - a rise of 610 per cent over the decade.