A CHOP-led analysis found peanut allergy prevalence declined from 0.79% to 0.45% and overall IgE-mediated food allergies fell from 1.46% to 0.93% after guidance shifted toward introducing common allergens during infancy.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Rates of peanut and other IgE-mediated food allergies among children declined after pediatric guidance began encouraging earlier introduction of common allergens, according to research from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia that adds real-world evidence to a major shift in infant feeding recommendations.
The study, published in Pediatrics in October 2025, examined electronic health records from the American Academy of Pediatrics Comparative Effectiveness Research through Collaborative Electronic Reporting, or CER2, network, which includes data from multiple states. Researchers compared food allergy diagnoses from periods before and after recommendations encouraging earlier exposure to allergenic foods were put into practice.
Peanut allergy prevalence fell from 0.79% to 0.45%, while the prevalence of any IgE-mediated food allergy declined from 1.46% to 0.93%. Peanut had previously been the most frequently identified childhood food allergen in the data, but egg became the most common after the change in guidance. Researchers estimated that early allergen introduction could correspond to approximately one fewer case of food allergy for every 200 infants exposed.
Lead author Stanislaw Gabryszewski, MD, PhD, an attending physician in CHOP’s Division of Allergy and Immunology, said the results provide evidence that major public health changes involving infant feeding may be producing measurable benefits in children.
The findings build on the influential 2015 Learning Early About Peanut Allergy, or LEAP, trial. That study examined infants considered at elevated risk because they had eczema or egg allergy and found that introducing peanut between 4 and 11 months of age reduced their risk of developing a peanut allergy by 81%. Recommendations were subsequently broadened so that early introduction was encouraged beyond only the highest-risk children.
That approach represented a significant reversal from earlier thinking about allergy prevention. Pediatric guidance had previously favored delaying peanut exposure, including recommendations that peanut not be introduced until after a child’s first birthday in some circumstances and that higher-risk children be monitored closely by a healthcare professional.
Researchers cautioned, however, that the newer CHOP analysis demonstrates an association rather than proving that the guideline changes alone caused the decline in allergies. Other differences among children, families, medical practices and feeding patterns could have contributed to the observed changes.
“Not everyone has followed those guidelines, but this is further evidence that this early introduction is effective at preventing food allergies,” Dr. Susan Schuval, chief of the Division of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital in New York, said.
Peanut remains an important food allergen because reactions can be severe in some children. Symptoms can include difficulty breathing, swelling of the throat and dangerous declines in blood pressure. Severe allergic reactions require rapid treatment with epinephrine.
For that reason, health professionals continue to recommend that parents discuss the introduction of potential allergens with their child’s pediatrician, particularly when an infant has eczema, an existing food allergy, a family history of allergic disease or other medical concerns.
The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Hartwell Foundation, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and additional organizations involved in children’s health and food allergy research.
Taken together with the earlier LEAP findings, the new analysis suggests that the shift away from routine allergen avoidance during infancy has coincided with a meaningful reduction in diagnosed childhood food allergies. Researchers nevertheless emphasize that individual risk varies and that families with higher-risk infants should seek medical guidance when deciding how and when to introduce peanut, egg and other common allergens.
Source: Natural News
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