Baby got snack: Child allergies are plummeting due to early exposure

For years, nurseries across America treated peanuts and other allergens like biohazardous material. But recent research suggests a new health trend for allergies may be letting kids—and their parents—breathe a little easier.

Food allergies in US children have dropped dramatically since the federal government introduced new guidelines that recommend introducing infants to foods early on, according to a study published this week in Pediatrics.

How we got here: In 2015, a landmark trial found that feeding peanuts to babies could cut their risk of developing a peanut allergy by ~80%. In response, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) updated its guidance in 2017 to recommend early introduction of peanuts—and later, other allergenic foods—to infants as young as four months.

This new method has proven effective

The Pediatrics study tracked ~125,000 children under the age of three across ~50 US health centers, and compared the three-year periods before and after the new NIAID allergy guidance.

• It found a 36% reduction in all food allergies and a 43% drop in peanut allergies once the guidance was updated in 2017.
• The study didn’t track exactly what infants were eating, but experts say the decline likely reflects both the early-introduction guidelines and other factors like better eczema care.

The study also revealed that eggs have scrambled their way to the top of the allergen leaderboard, overtaking peanuts as the most common allergy among young children in the US.

Big picture: Food allergies still affect roughly 10% of children and 8% of adults in the US. But with new early exposure methods, scientists expect to see those numbers plummet across the board for future generations.