Many people are allergic to eggs and peanuts. An allergy to peanuts can be deadly. Researchers from a London university say that feeding eggs and peanuts to babies may stop them getting allergies when they are older. The researchers looked at studies of more than 200,000 children to see when they first ate eggs and peanuts. They found that if 4-6-month-old babies ate eggs, they were 40 per cent less likely to get an egg allergy than children who ate eggs later. Babies aged four-to-11 months old who ate peanut products were 70 per cent less likely to get an allergy to peanuts.
Egg and peanut allergies are the two most common childhood food allergies. Parents must be careful when feeding babies eggs and nuts. Babies should never have whole nuts because they might choke. They should only eat smooth and not crunchy peanut butter. Other food allergies are to soy, wheat, sesame, fish and seafood. Giving these foods to babies one at a time may protect them from allergies. Parents should check their baby's health after each new food. The researchers say that more research is needed to find the best ages to start feeding eggs and peanuts to babies.
