Health
Feeding peanuts to babies could prevent allergies through the teen years, study finds
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.
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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.
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“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.
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“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.
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“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.
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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.
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Novo Nordisk to slash Wegovy, Ozempic list prices
Board certified rheumatologist Dr. Mahsa Tehrani discusses Novo Nordisk’s decision to dramatically cut the U.S. list prices for its popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy on ‘America Reports.’
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Millions of Medicare beneficiaries struggling with obesity could soon see the cost of weight-loss drugs plummet, as a new federal pilot program launching July 1 expands access to GLP-1 medications like Wegovy and Zepbound for eligible seniors.
Through a new trial called Medicare GLP-1 Bridge, the federal government is now offering a selection of the brand-name medications to certain Medicare and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries for $50 a month, The Associated Press reported.
The covered medications include drugmaker Eli Lilly’s Foundayo tablets and Zepbound KwikPens and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy injections and tablets, all of which have been FDA-approved for weight loss, according to the report.
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The temporary program is set to run until the end of 2027.
This is the first time GLP-1s (glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists) will be covered by insurance when used solely for weight loss.
A new federal pilot program launching July 1 expands access to GLP-1 medications like Wegovy and Zepbound for eligible seniors. (iStock)
Prior to this new Medicare pilot, seniors who wanted to access GLP-1s for obesity alone paid about $1,350-$1,650 per month for Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy (semaglutide) and about $1,086 monthly for Lilly’s Zepbound (tirzepatide). However, both manufacturers offered some cash-pay options that significantly reduced those prices for eligible patients.
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There are some parameters surrounding the coverage — older adults must have had a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or higher when they started GLP-1 therapy, or a BMI of 27 or higher alongside another health condition, such as a past heart attack or stroke or prediabetes.
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Those who already have insurance coverage for other diseases, such as diabetes and sleep apnea, are not eligible for the program.
Through a new trial called Medicare GLP-1 Bridge, the federal government is now offering a selection of the brand-name medications to certain Medicare and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries for $50 a month. (iStock)
There are more than 70 million Americans currently enrolled in Medicare, 10 million of whom are overweight or obese, according to Juliette Cubanski, vice president and director of the program on Medicare policy at the healthcare research nonprofit KFF.
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“For many older Americans living with obesity, this is a moment they and their families have been waiting for,” Jamey Millar, Novo Nordisk’s executive vice president of U.S. operations, said in a press release.
“The Medicare GLP-1 Bridge program offers a new, affordable path to an FDA-approved treatment that was previously not covered.”
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Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said he hopes the program can help his agency collect data to potentially work toward longer-term coverage, while providing immediate relief to cash-strapped older Americans, AP reported.
“The sheer cost of these medications is a huge barrier to access,” he said in a call with reporters. “That ends today.”
Prior to this new Medicare pilot, seniors who wanted to access GLP-1s for obesity alone paid about $1,350-$1,650 per month for Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy (semaglutide) and about $1,086 monthly for Lilly’s Zepbound (tirzepatide). (iStock)
Oz told reporters that CMS plans to “carefully track participation and outcomes” to see whether an extension of the Bridge program or another solution is the best way to move forward. He told AP a federal law permanently allowing the coverage is “not essential right now” but something “for Congress to debate amongst themselves.”
“We can’t decide what’s going to happen long term with Bridge until we see some of the data,” he said, adding that there are ongoing talks with drug companies to lower costs.
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One potential concern is that older patients tend to have more adverse effects to medication in general , according to Dr. Micah Eimer, a clinical assistant professor of cardiology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
“Specifically, in our research, older patients on blood pressure medications were more likely to experience hypotensive side effects, such as fainting and dizziness, after starting a GLP-1,” he said in a statement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Federal health officials are attempting to track down the source of a microscopic parasite that triggers prolonged gastrointestinal illness, as domestic cases begin to climb for the summer season.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had confirmed 145 cases of cyclosporiasis across 17 states as of mid-June 2026, all linked to infections acquired in the U.S.
The culprit is Cyclospora, a microscopic parasite known to cause cyclosporiasis.
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The hallmark symptom of the infection is watery, often “explosive” diarrhea that can last for weeks or even months if left untreated, the CDC says.
There is currently no evidence of a single, multistate Cyclospora outbreak linking all cases. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy, File)
Other symptoms include severe abdominal cramping, bloating, nausea, fatigue and significant weight loss.
The official outbreak season for the parasite runs from May 1 through Aug. 31, a window where warmer temperatures historically coincide with a spike in infections, according to the CDC.
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Cases have cropped up in states ranging from Texas to Alaska. New York has been hit the hardest so far, reporting between 31 and 80 cases, followed by Texas and Illinois, which have each reported between 11 and 30 cases.
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While the infection can sometimes clear up on its own, it frequently requires antibiotics. Out of the 145 confirmed cases, 20 patients have required hospitalization, per the CDC.
While the infection can sometimes clear up on its own, it frequently requires antibiotics. (iStock)
No deaths have yet been reported. Patients range from 5 to 86 years old, though the median age is 42, and women make up 61% of the reported cases, data shows.
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The CDC, alongside the Food and Drug Administration and state health officials, is actively investigating several multi-state clusters, but they have yet to find a cause behind the spread.
Officials urge patients with symptoms to seek help from a medical professional. (iStock)
“There is currently no evidence of a single, multistate Cyclospora outbreak linking all cases,” the CDC noted in its surveillance report.
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The CDC advises anyone experiencing symptoms of cyclosporiasis to contact a healthcare provider for testing and treatment.
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