Peanut allergies are one of the most common causes of life-threatening allergic reactions, and have grown increasingly common in recent decades. According to JAMA, about peanut allergies affected .4 percent of children in 1997, but by 2018, more than 2 percent of children were allergic to peanuts. But recent data suggests that peanut allergy incidence is finally starting to decline — and also suggests that previous guidance on peanut introduction may have been driving the sudden increase.
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended that parents delay peanut introduction for three years, and some providers encouraged parents to wait as long as five years. But the landmark Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) study, published in 2015, showed that introducing allergenic foods early actually decreased allergy risk among infants and young children.
Today, AAP guidance reflects these findings, and urges the introduction of allergenic foods for all infants at approximately six months of age. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, potentially allergenic foods include cow's milk products, eggs, fish and shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy, and sesame.
