Introducing peanut butter to babies from infancy through age 5 significantly reduces the risk of peanut allergies into adolescence, according to BBC a new study by King’s College London.
The LEAP-Trio study, published Tuesday in NEJM Evidence, found that early peanut consumption decreased the likelihood of developing peanut allergies by 71% up to age 13.
This study follows the Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) clinical trial, both sponsored and co-funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
In the initial trial, participants were split into two groups: one consumed peanuts regularly from infancy to age 5, while the other avoided peanuts.
Researchers observed an 81% reduction in peanut allergies at age 5 among those who consumed peanuts early. told by The Guardian
The follow-up study involved 508 participants from the original trial, now averaging 13 years old. These children were exposed to peanuts in a controlled environment to monitor allergic reactions.
Peanut allergies were significantly more common among those who avoided peanuts during their first five years.
“Regular, early peanut consumption reduced the risk of peanut allergy in adolescence by 71% compared to early peanut avoidance,” the study authors noted.
This protective effect persisted even if the children did not continue eating peanuts regularly after age 5.
“The key finding of this study is that early consumption of peanuts, starting early in the first year of life, confers long-term protection against peanut allergy all the way into adolescence, even without continued consumption of peanuts beyond the age of five years,” lead investigator Gideon Lack, a professor at King’s College London, told Fox News Digital.
