Breast-Feeding Cuts Food Allergy Risk

Breast-Feeding Cuts Food Allergy Risk
Mothers breastfeed their newborn babies at a government hospital in Manila June 21, 2007. (Joseph Agcaoili/Reuters)WEDNESDAY, Nov. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Breast-feeding in the firstthree months of life appears to help shield children from developing foodallergies.
That's just one of a number of findings on food allergies scheduled tobe presented this week at the annual meeting of the American College ofAllergy, Asthma and Immunology in Dallas.
Research has determined a possible role for food allergy preventionstrategies in high-risk children, including maternal food avoidance inpregnancy, breast-feeding, maternal food avoidance while breast-feeding,use of hypoallergenic formulas, delayed introduction of allergenic foodsand probiotics, noted one expert.
"A review of 18 studies demonstrates a significant protective effect ofexclusive breast-feeding for at least three months for children with highrisk for atopy (genetic tendency to develop allergic diseases) against thedevelopment of atopic dermatitis and early childhood asthma-likesymptoms," Dr. Robert Wood, international health director for pediatricallergy and immunology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said in aprepared statement.
He offered a number of recommendations for children at high risk ofallergic diseases:
Women should avoid peanuts and tree nuts during pregnancy and whilebreast-feeding.Mothers should supplement breast-feeding with a hypoallergenic formula(extensively or partially hydrolyzed).Delay feeding these children solid foods until they're six monthsold.Delay introduction of milk and egg until age 1 and peanut and treenuts until age 3.Start early intervention when signs of food allergy appear (secondaryprevention).
In a planned presentation about allergies and dietary restrictions,another expert noted that a person may have an allergy to one member of afood family, but may be able to eat other members of the same foodfamily.
For example, one study on nine common fish found cross-reactivity andallergenicity were highest among cod, salmon and pollack and lowest amonghalibut, flounder, tuna and mackerel. Another study on edible nuts foundcross-reactivity was strong among walnut, pecan and hazelnut; moderateamong cashew, pistachio, Brazil nut and almond; and extremely low betweenpeanut and tree nuts.
"You may be allergic to a particular part of a food, but not to anotherpart," Dr. Sami Bahna, chief of allergy and immunology at Louisiana StateUniversity in Shreveport, said in a prepared statement.
Another expert said doctors need to consider food allergy as apotential cause of gastrointestinal or dermatological symptoms inpatients.
"The eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders (EGID) which may affectthe esophagus, stomach, colon and rectum are mostly chronic and recurrentdisorders that adversely impact quality of life for patients andfamilies," Dr. Amal Assa'ad, director of the Food Allergy &Eosinophilic Disorders Clinic at Cincinnati Children's Medical Center,said in a prepared statement.
"Patients with EGID have a high rate of sensitization to food andenvironmental allergens, and many of them have a high rate of clinicalsymptoms with various food ingestions. A subset of patients respond toremoval of major food allergens from their diet," Assa'ad said.
"EGID management often requires multiple specialists, including theprimary physician, allergy and immunology, gastroenterology, nutrition andpsychology," she noted.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has moreabout food allergy.