Infants Should Eat Peanuts to Prevent Allergies, New Guidelines Say

New guidelines have been issued to health care providers to introduce peanut-containing foods to infants as early 4-6 months to prevent peanut allergies, according to the National Institutes of Health.

The new guidelines are aimed at infants with various levels of risk for developing a peanut allergy. The first is for babies who have severe eczema, an egg allergy, or both, and experts recommend introducing peanuts to their diets between ages 4-6 months. The second suggests that babies with mild or moderate eczema should first eat peanut-containing foods at 6 months old, and the third recommends that infants should be introduced to foods at any time.

Parents should check with their child’s health care providers before giving them peanut-containing foods and can take an allergy blood test, skin prick test, or oral food challenge to determine whether it is okay to add to their diets.