Increased Consumption Of Eggs In Children Can Decrease Egg Allergy

According to a recent study, children should be introduced to eggs at an early age to decrease egg allergy. This study was presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting.

"We examined infant feeding and food allergy data from birth to 6 years, collected by 2237 parent surveys in the Infant Feeding Practices Study II conducted by the CDC and US-FDA," said Allergy and Immunology Fellow Giulia Martone, MD, ACAAI member and lead author of the study.

1379 participants had completed food allergy data to 6 years. "We found that children who hadn't had egg introduced by 12 months were more likely to have egg allergy at 6 years," Martone added.

14 of 2237 surveys (0.6 per cent) reported egg allergy at one year and 11 of 1379 surveys (0.8 per cent) reported egg allergy at 6 years. Children with an egg allergy at 1-year-old and 6 years old had less frequent egg consumption at 5, 6, 7 and 10 months of age.

"Egg allergy is the second most common food allergy throughout the world," said Xiaozhong Wen, MD, PhD, senior author and principal investigator of the study.

"Current evidence suggests that early introduction of the egg during infancy, followed by consistent and frequent feedings, seems protective against the development of egg allergy. We are still investigating optimal timing of infant egg introduction and frequency of feeding," Wen added.

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