Throughout my professional career as a physician, I have been taught to spare children exposure to allergenic foods such as peanuts, shrimp and eggs until they are older. In fact, long-standing recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics have had physicians discourage parents from introducing milk until age 1, eggs until age 2 and peanuts until a child is 3. Overprotecting children may be harmful, however, when it comes to food allergies. Consider results from a recent study that found that British Jewish children were 10 times more likely than Israeli Jewish children to have a peanut allergy. The Israeli kids are exposed early in life to a diet rich in nuts; some are given peanut-laden foods at just a few months of age. British children are generally not exposed to nuts until 1 year of age.
Continued in the book — Open This Book & Say “Ahhh!”
