Health

Feeding peanuts to babies could prevent allergies through the teen years, study finds

Published

2 years ago

May 28, 2024

Press Room

Feeding peanuts to babies could prevent allergies through the teen years, study finds

Join Fox News for access to this content

Plus special access to select articles and other premium content with your account – free of charge.

Please enter a valid email address.

Feeding peanut butter to babies — starting during infancy and continuing until age 5 — has been shown effective in reducing allergies into adolescence, according to a new study by King’s College London.

The LEAP-Trio study, published on Tuesday in NEJM Evidence, showed that children who consumed peanuts early in life were 71% less likely to develop peanut allergies all the way up to 13 years of age.

This was a follow-up to the Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) clinical trial. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) sponsored and co-funded both studies.

10 SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT PEANUT ALLERGIES, ACCORDING TO A PEDIATRIC IMMUNOLOGIST

In the original trial, half the participants were asked to consume peanuts regularly from infancy until age 5, while the other half were asked to avoid the food during that period.

Researchers found that early introduction of peanuts reduced the risk of peanut allergy at age 5 by 81%.

Feeding peanut butter to babies has shown to be effective in reducing allergies into adolescence, according to a new study. (iStock)

This latest trial included 508 participants from the original study, averaging 13 years of age.

The children were given peanuts in a “carefully controlled setting” to gauge any allergic reactions.

Peanut allergies were “significantly more prevalent” among the children who avoided peanuts in the first five years of life.

BABY SLEEP DANGERS REVEALED IN NEW STUDY AS NEARLY 70% OF INFANT DEATHS WERE DUE TO CO-SLEEPING

“Regular, early peanut consumption reduced the risk of peanut allergy in adolescence by 71% compared to early peanut avoidance,” the study authors wrote.

This effect persisted regardless of whether the children had eaten peanuts regularly or avoided them over a period of many years.

FDA APPROVES ALLERGY DRUG TO LESSEN SEVERITY OF REACTIONS TO PEANUTS, DAIRY, OTHER FOODS

“The key finding of this study is that early consumption of peanut, starting early in the first year of life, confers long-term protection against peanut allergy all the way into adolescence, even without continued consumption of peanut beyond the age of five years,” lead study investigator Gideon Lack, a professor at King’s College London, told Fox News Digital.

Children who consumed peanuts early in life were 71% less likely to develop peanut allergies all the way up to 13 years of age, researchers found. (iStock)

“This is the first study to establish long-term oral tolerance as a protective strategy against peanut allergy.”

To prevent peanut allergy, young babies as early as 4 months of age should be given peanuts in the form of peanut puffs or peanut butter “regularly and frequently” — at least three times a week — over the first four to five years of life, the researchers recommended.

GLUTEN-FREE LIFESTYLE: DEBUNKING MYTHS AND DECIDING IF THE DIET IS RIGHT FOR YOU

“I was not entirely surprised, but nevertheless impressed by the strong protective effect of early peanut consumption preventing peanut allergy all the way into adolescence,” Lack noted.

“This indicates that lifelong tolerance may have been achieved.”

“Early introduction of infant-safe peanut foods has been proven to help prevent peanut allergies, especially but not exclusively in infants at risk for peanut allergies,” a registered dietitian told Fox News Digital. (iStock)

Sherry Coleman Collins, a food allergy dietitian in Marietta, Georgia, was not involved in the study but shared her insights on the topic.

“Early introduction of infant-safe peanut foods has been proven to help prevent peanut allergies, especially but not exclusively in infants at risk for peanut allergies,” she told Fox News Digital.

“In this study, they found that even if children who ate peanut foods in infancy stopped eating peanuts for a period of time, they were still protected against developing a peanut allergy,” Collins continued.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER

This supports the idea that tolerance to foods developed in infancy can extend into adolescence, according to Collins.

“Infants who have moderate to severe eczema and/or egg allergy should discuss early introduction of peanut foods to help prevent peanut allergies because they are at highest risk,” she advised.

“Infants who have moderate to severe eczema and/or egg allergy should discuss early introduction of peanut foods to help prevent allergies.”

The study did have some limitations, Lack acknowledged.

“One weakness of the study is that it was carried out in a high-risk population of babies with severe eczema or hens egg allergy,” he told Fox News Digital.

“However, the findings of the original LEAP study have now been replicated in other lower-risk normal populations and therefore are applicable to the general population.”

These findings could likely be effective for other types of food allergies, the researchers said.

For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health.

Health

The Best Time To Drink Coffee for Weight Loss and a Faster Metabolism

Published

7 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

The Best Time To Drink Coffee for Weight Loss and a Faster Metabolism

The Best Time To Drink Coffee for Weight Loss and Fat Burn | Woman’s World

Use left and right arrow keys to navigate between menu items.

Use escape to exit the menu.

Create a free account to access exclusive content, play games, solve puzzles, test your pop-culture knowledge and receive special offers.
Already have an account? Login

Health

‘SuperAgers’ stay mentally sharp well past 80, as scientists reveal the reason

Published

8 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

‘SuperAgers’ stay mentally sharp well past 80, as scientists reveal the reason

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

On the lookout

→ Heart disease threat projected to climb sharply for key demographic

→ Heavy snow is recipe for serious heart attack risk, experts say

→ Flu season could linger into spring as doctors warn of second wave

A doctor says the second wave of flu season may be worse than previous years. (iStock)

Conversation starters

→ One type of olive oil has a surprising effect on brainpower in aging adults

→ Common vision issue linked to type of lighting used in homes

→ Some supplements may pose risks for people with diabetes, experts say

Medical advances

→ Alzheimer’s symptoms could be predicted years in advance through one simple test

→ Combination nasal spray vaccine could protect against COVID, flu and pneumonia

→ Weight-loss medications could impact sexual health in unexpected ways

Stat of the week

More than 59% of women may have high blood pressure by 2050, according to a new report from the American Heart Association.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES

This article was written by Fox News staff.

Health

Heart disease threat projected to climb sharply for key demographic

Published

20 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Heart disease threat projected to climb sharply for key demographic

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

A new report by the American Heart Association (AHA) included some troubling predictions for the future of women’s health.

The forecast, published in the journal Circulation on Wednesday, projected increases in various comorbidities in American females by 2050.

More than 59% of women were predicted to have high blood pressure, up from less than 49% currently.

The review also projected that more than 25% of women will have diabetes, compared to about 15% today, and more than 61% will have obesity, compared to 44% currently.

As a result of these risk factors, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7%.

The prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke in women is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7% by 2050. (iStock)

Not all trends were negative, as unhealthy cholesterol prevalence is expected to drop to about 22% from more than 42% today, the report stated.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, a cardiologist and founder of Step One Foods in Minnesota, commented on these “jarring findings.”

“The fact that on our current trajectory, cardiometabolic disease is projected to explode in women within one generation should be a huge wake-up call,” she told Fox News Digital.

NEARLY 90% OF AMERICANS AT RISK OF SILENT DISEASE — HERE’S WHAT TO KNOW

“Hypertension, diabetes, obesity — these are all major risk factors for heart disease, and we are already seeing what those risks are driving. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, eclipsing all other causes of death, including breast cancer.”

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. and around the world. (iStock)

Klodas warned that heart disease starts early, progresses “stealthily,” and can present “out of the blue in devastating ways.”

The AHA published another study on Thursday revealing one million hospitalizations, showing that heart attack deaths are climbing among adults below the age of 55.

The more alarming finding, according to Klodas, is that young women were found more likely to die after their first heart attack than men of the same age.

DOCTOR SHARES 3 SIMPLE CHANGES TO STAY HEALTHY AND INDEPENDENT AS YOU AGE

“This is all especially tragic since heart disease is almost entirely preventable,” she said. “The earlier you start, the better.”

Children can show early evidence of plaque deposition in their arteries, which can be reversed through lifestyle changes if “undertaken early enough and aggressively enough,” according to the expert.

Moving more is one part of protecting a healthy heart, according to experts. (iStock)

Klodas suggested that rising heart conditions are associated with traditional risk factors, like smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES

Doctors are also seeing higher rates of preeclampsia, or high blood pressure during pregnancy, as well as gestational diabetes. Klodas noted that these are sex-specific risk factors that don’t typically contribute to complications until after menopause.

The best way to protect a healthy heart is to “do the basics,” Klodas recommended, including the following lifestyle habits.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER

Klodas especially emphasized making improvements to diet, as the food people eat affects “every single risk factor that the AHA’s report highlights.”

“High blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, excess weight – these are all conditions that are driven in part or in whole by food,” she said. “We eat multiple times every single day, which means what we eat has profound cumulative effects over time.”

“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health,” a doctor said. (iStock)

“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health.”

The doctor also recommends changing out a few snacks per day for healthier choices, which has been proven to “yield medication-level cholesterol reductions” in a month.

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

“Keep up that small change and, over the course of a year, you could also lose 20 pounds and reduce your sodium intake enough to avoid blood pressure-lowering medications,” Klodas added.

“Women should not view the AHA report as inevitable. We have power over our health destinies. We just need to use it.”

Angelica Stabile is a lifestyle reporter for Fox News Digital.