Mothers may prevent development of food allergies in children

Issue: April 2010

Avoiding certain foods during pregnancy helped mothers who already had children with food allergies reduce the likelihood that their future children would demonstrate similar sensitizations, especially to peanut and egg, according to data presented here.

Researchers at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Australia sought to determine the effect that diet during pregnancy would have on food allergies. They assessed the siblings born to mothers of 274 food-allergic children aged 18 months and again when aged 36 months, with outcome measures of allergen sensitization via skin prick tests and symptoms of allergic disease. The researchers then divided children into an “avoidance” group (A) whose mothers chose to follow the restricted diet and a “no avoidance” (NA) group whose mothers maintained an unrestricted diet.

“The avoidance advice encompassed the third trimester of pregnancy, during breast-feeding and into the second year of life. Particular emphasis was placed on nut avoidance and, to a lesser extent, egg and milk,” Velencia Soutter, MD, one of the study’s researchers from the hospital, said in a press release.

The researchers reported that significantly fewer children from group A developed peanut and egg sensitization when compared with those from the NA group at 18 months (37% vs. 50%) and 36 months (52% vs. 75%). Group A siblings also were less likely to develop asthma symptoms at either age (23% vs. 43%). Additionally, dust mite sensitization and eczema rates were lower in group A at 18 months, but the researchers noted no difference at 36 months.

“Early allergen avoidance can prevent the development of food allergies and may have an impact on later development of allergic disease,” Soutter concluded. – by Melissa Foster

Soutter VL. #L9. Presented at: 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology; Feb. 26-March 2, 2010; New Orleans.