Massive drop in childhood peanut allergies after 2015 study encouraged exposure in infancy

Peanut allergy rates in the US have decreased dramatically after there was an update in medical guidelines in 2015 that overturned previous medical advice, recommending that peanuts be introduced to babies as early as 4 months old. Peanut allergy rates have dropped more than 40 percent after the recommendation, according to new research.

After the 2015 change in guidance, around 60,000 children were able to avoid peanut allergies when medical practitioners said to start introducing allergens to infants at around 4 months. "That's a remarkable thing, right?" said Dr. David Hill, who is the author of a study that was published on Monday in the medical journal Pediatrics.

Hill added, "I can actually come to you today and say there are less kids with food allergy today than there would have been if we hadn't implemented this public health effort," per CBS News. "Our findings have relevance from those of us who treat patients to those caring for infants, and more awareness, education and advocacy could further increase the positive results we observed in this study. Future studies could potentially explore specific feeding practices that help us better understand the timing, frequency and dose of foods that optimize protection against food allergies."

The conclusion of the study read concerning the results of the 2105 recommendation, "We detected decreased rates of peanut or any IgE-FA in the period following the publication of early introduction guidelines and addendum guidelines. Our results are supportive of the intended effect of these landmark public health recommendations."

For decades, standard medical practice was to delay feeding foods that could cause an allergic reaction until they were three years of age. With the 2015 study, that recommendation was reversed. The 2015 breakthrough study, done by Gideon Lack at the King’s College London, showed that introducing peanut products in infancy was able to reduce the development of allergies by 80 percent in children.

That impact showed persistent protection in around 70 percent of the children who were tested for the 2015 study.