Are You Ruining Your Child's Chance To Avoid Food Allergies?

TUESDAY, June 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Out of concern, many parents might be spoiling their child’s best chance to avoid developing a food allergy, a new study says.

Allergy experts recommend children at risk of food allergies start being introduced to small amounts of highly allergenic foods starting at 4 to 6 months of age.

But some parents are waiting a year or more to introduce these foods, increasing the risk that their children won’t be able to build up a sufficient tolerance, researchers reported recently in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

About 35% of infants haven’t been exposed to nuts by the time they’re a year old, according to a survey of parents in Portsmouth, U.K., participating in a long-term study of their children’s health.

Likewise, about 21% of parents hadn’t fed their one-year-olds any egg, and 16% any sesame, results show.

“For years, families were advised to avoid allergenic foods during pregnancy and early childhood, but research now shows this guidance may have actually increased the risk of allergies, particularly in children,” said lead researcher Suzannah Helps, a senior lecturer at the University of Portsmouth School of Dental, Health and Care Professions in the U.K.

“It’s vital that this updated understanding reaches the public, as delayed introduction of these foods continues to contribute to the allergy epidemic,” Helps added in a news release.

For the study, researchers surveyed 390 parents participating in the Portsmouth Birth Cohort Project, which is tracking the health of children born there between 2015 and 2017.

Most children were introduced to allergenic foods like eggs and nuts between 6 and 9 months, results show.

However, many parents did choose to delay introduction of highly allergenic foods into their kids’ diets.

For example, about 26% of parents waited until their child was older than 9 months to introduce them to sesame, 25% for fish, 21% for nuts and 11% for egg.

“Parents of the infants, both those with and without a family history of allergy, did not appear to be following advice to introduce nuts and eggs alongside other solids,” researchers concluded. “Nuts and eggs were introduced late, with a large proportion of infants not being exposed to either of these foods by one year of age.”

The results indicate that the change in food allergy guidelines has not been made clear enough to new parents, researchers said.

“Research generally reports that early introduction of allergenic foods, particularly nuts and egg, is associated with lower risk of allergic disease, and it has been suggested that high-risk children should be introduced to peanut-containing foods as early as 4 to 6 months of age,” researchers wrote.

More information

The Mayo Clinic has more on avoiding food allergies.

SOURCES: University of Portsmouth, news release, June 3, 2025, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, June 3, 2025