Eating peanuts during childhood reduces the risk of allergies

Listen this article

 

Studies published by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) explain that giving peanuts to babies helps prevent them from developing allergies that can be dangerous to their health

When can I start feeding peanuts and nut-based foods to my baby?

A report published by the New England Journal of Medicine indicates that you can provide peanut-containing foods, such as peanut butter, to babies as young as four months old. You should start by giving the baby foods such as bananas, plums, and cereals.

Leer en español: Comer maní durante la infancia reduce el riesgo de padecer alergias

It is important that the allergic propensity of the baby be taken into consideration, for this, the food should be given, one at a time, and wait two or three days under observation, to determine if the baby tolerated the consumption of the food.

Since the baby has endured these foods, you can proceed to introduce other foods a little more allergens, such as eggs, milk, peanuts or peanuts, soybeans, wheat, assorted nuts, fish and other seafood. After introducing each of these foods should be observed with special attention the reactions that may have the baby against the consumption of these.

It should be noted that there is no diarrhea, vomiting, rash or any other reaction that can be defined as an allergic symptom. If this happens, stop the introduction of the food and immediately consult your treating doctor, the child's pediatrician.

What can parents do to help their children avoid allergies?

Babies who breastfeed their first three or four months often rarely develop childhood eczema, but breastfeeding has not been proven to help prevent food allergies.

Because eating peanuts and peanut butter can cause suffocation, it is recommended, at lower risk, that you be introduced as a companion to another solid food. So:

Read also: Breastfeeding: the main recommendation for having healthy babies

• It is best to start with solid foods that are low-risk allergens such as plum, banana or cereal puree. Observe for two or three days after the administration of the food, to rule out any allergic reaction to the menu. If nothing has happened, try another food and repeat the observation. Discard rashes, vomit, and diarrhea.

• Since the low allergen foods were accepted without reactions by the body, try it with those more allergens. Among the riskiest are eating peanuts, eggs, seafood, fish, soy, wheat, and whole cow's milk. The intake of these foods should be made with appropriate textures for babies, such as porridges and pure, and in the case of cow's milk can be made using Greek yogurt or whole milk yogurt combined with fruits that your baby has already tried in your diet

• If your baby has had allergies to other foods, you are likely to be potentially allergic to peanuts and foods that contain them. That high risk should be treated directly with your pediatrician, under your advice and supervision will determine how and when it can be introduced in the consumption of peanuts and its derivatives.

• It is best to examine the babies before feeding them with peanuts, to identify an allergy. It would also be healthy to provide these foods in your pediatrician's office since this is a supervised environment.

It may interest you: Baby diarrhea: causes, symptoms, and treatment

• Those babies with mild to moderate eczema are prone to allergy after eating peanuts and their derivatives. In these cases, high-risk foods can be introduced after six months. If peanuts are part of your diet, you are more likely not to develop peanut allergies.

• In the case of babies who do not have eczema or allergies, they are not at greater risk, so they can start feeding peanuts without problems, as well as other allergen foods.

It should always be taken into consideration that the food to be delivered to your baby should be introduced in the form and portions appropriate to the age of the baby, as well as the stage of development in which it is.

LatinAmerican Post | Claudio Quiñonez

Translated from "Comer maní durante la infancia reduce el riesgo de padecer alergias"