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- Children who had no egg in their diet at 12 months of age were more likely to have an egg allergy at 6 years of age.
What if eating eggs regularly from early childhood helped prevent allergies later in life? This is what was presented at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (ACAAI) that the early introduction of eggs into the diet is associated with reduced egg allergy.
The study was conducted from Data for the second study on infant feeding practices on infant feeding and food allergies (from birth to age 6 years) were collected from 2237 parental surveys.1379 participants had complete data on food allergies up to age 6 years.
“We found that children who had no egg introduced at 12 months of age were more likely to have an egg allergy at age 6,” Julia Marton, lead author of the study, explains in a press release. 14 of 2237 (0.6%) surveys reported an egg allergy at 1 year, and 11 of 1379 (0.8%) surveys reported an egg allergy at 6 years of age. Children with egg allergy between the ages of 1 and 6 years had lower egg consumption at 5, 6, 7, and 10 months.
It is one of the most common types of allergies in the world
Introducing food to the baby’s feeding too early to avoid allergy risks is a well-known method. For example, it is used to prevent the risk of intolerance to peanuts, one of the most common allergies in the world, like eggs.
“Early introduction of the egg in infancy, followed by consistent and frequent feedings, appears to protect against the development of egg allergy. We are still investigating the optimal timing of egg introduction in the infant and the frequency of feeding.”, conclude the authors of the work.