29 Mar Could Babies From Wealthier Families Reduce Egg Allergies By Eating Them Earlier?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Debra Palmer
Dr. Debra Palmer (BSc, BND, PhD)
on behalf of my fellow co-authors on this publication
Childhood Allergy and Immunology Research
University of Western Australia
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We conducted a multicentre trial, Starting Time of Egg Protein (STEP) involving 820 infants, and found a 25% risk reduction in egg allergy with early regular egg intake from 4-6.5 months compared with egg avoidance to 10 months of age, although this did not achieve statistical significance.
So we also investigated in exploratory analyses whether the effect of regular egg introduction in solid foods was modified by any maternal, family or infant characteristics. Our results found that infants from families of higher socioeconomic status and those families who consume few eggs per week could benefit by less egg allergy at 12 months of age from regular egg intake once they start eating solid foods.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: As part of a varied and nutritious diet, egg and egg containing foods should be included once babies start eating solid foods. This appears to be especially important for those babies from families of higher socioeconomic status and those families who eat few eggs per week.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Response: Future research should continue to define subgroups of families who benefit from regular inclusion of allergenic foods, like egg and peanut, in babies diets. This will enable targeted infant feeding practice guidelines and community education strategies for food allergy prevention.
MedicalResearch.com: Thank you for your contribution to the MedicalResearch.com community.
Citation:
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Last Updated on March 29, 2017 by Marie Benz MD FAAD