For parents of young children, the list of potential hazards can seem endless. Items they likely have around the house that they’d never given a second thought to can end up being surprisingly dangerous if kids get their hands on them. There have even been calls to redesign the hot dog to mitigate the risk of choking. (With all due respect to my fellow pediatricians, I’ve always been in the “tell people to cut them up” camp on that one.)
It looks like peanut butter, at least, may be off the hook.
According to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, consumption of foods containing peanut before the age of 11 months significantly reduced the risk of developing peanut allergy later in life. Researchers enrolled over 600 infants considered high-risk for developing peanut allergy (defined as having severe eczema, egg allergy, or both), and randomized them into groups given peanut-containing foods and ones told to avoid them. Subjects included infants with a negative reaction to skin-prick testing for peanut allergy, and those with a mildly positive reaction. Those with a stronger reaction were excluded from the study.