Peanut allergy is real, and can be life threatening for a lot of kids. For years, parents were told to be cautious about introducing peanuts to babies, just in case too-eager peanut feeding was linked to allergies.
It kind of made sense: Maybe babies’ digestive systems were too young to properly handle the peanuts. But several studies, including a recent large meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, have shown that the opposite is true: Children who didn’t see peanuts until toddlerhood were more likely to develop an allergy. Ten medical organisations, including the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the American Academy of Pediatrics, now support early introduction of peanut products in babies’ diets.
This video, from Risk Bites (a project related to the Risk Innovation Lab at Arizona State University) explains one of the major studies that changed experts’ minds. Watch the video to learn more about it – and follow up with your paediatrician if you have questions about what your baby should eat.
Should Young Kids Avoid Peanut Products? [Risk Bites]
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