Babies should be given peanut products between 4 and 6 months to reduce allergy, say researchers

Researchers have called on the government to change official weaning advice, saying that peanut products should be introduced into babies’ diets during a “window of opportunity” of between 4 and 6 months of age to reduce the risk of allergy.

The incidence of peanut allergy has tripled in recent decades and now affects around 2% of the UK’s children. It is more common in children with severe eczema and egg allergy. White children are less likely than children of all other ethnic groups to be affected.

An analysis by Graham Roberts, professor in paediatric allergy and respiratory medicines at the University of Southampton, and Gideon Lack, professor of paediatric allergy at King’s College London, found that peanut allergy could be reduced by 77% if peanut products were added to all babies’ diets at 4-6 months.1 Their modelling found that peanut products should be introduced at 4 months for babies with eczema and at 6 months for those …