A recent King’s College London study reveals that introducing peanuts to infants and maintaining consumption until age five can lower peanut allergy incidence by 71%, emphasising the importance of early peanut exposure for children’s health.
Early Introduction of Peanuts Reduces Allergy Risk, Study Shows
A recent study conducted by King’s College London has shown that feeding infants peanuts from an early age significantly reduces the risk of developing peanut allergies. The research, part of the LEAP-Trio study, found that introducing peanuts to infants and continuing consumption until age five can lower the incidence of peanut allergy by 71%.
The study involved a clinical trial where participants were divided into two groups: one regularly consumed peanuts from infancy to five years old, while the other group avoided peanuts. By age five, the risk of peanut allergy was reduced by 81% in the peanut-consuming group. Later, both groups could eat peanuts freely. By age twelve, only 4.4% of the early peanut consumers had developed an allergy compared to 15.4% in the avoidance group.
Lead investigator, Professor Gideon Lack, highlighted the long-term benefits, noting that decades of advice to avoid early peanut exposure had led to parental fear, making the study’s findings particularly noteworthy. Co-lead investigator, Professor George Du Toit, recommends that peanuts can be introduced as early as four months old, in a developmentally appropriate form, such as pureed paste or peanut puffs.
The study underscores that early and regular consumption of peanuts leads to lasting tolerance and significantly fewer new cases of peanut allergies in children, potentially preventing over 100,000 new cases annually worldwide. A related trial is currently exploring whether consuming small amounts of various allergens can help build up immunity in children, and its results are expected in 2027.