How to slash your babys risk of developing the most common infant food allergy: study

It’s a shock in the fight against anaphylaxis.Affecting 1 in 13 children in the US, food allergies saw a 50% increase between 1997 and 2011 — a jump due to several factors, including more refined diets, vitamin D deficiencies and the “hygiene hypothesis,” which posits cleaner environments cause the immune system to overreact to certain foods.But parents can slash their baby’s risk of one of the most common food allergies in one easy step, according to a new study.Some of the most common food allergies for infants include wheat, fish, dairy, nuts (especially peanuts), soy and egg.The general recommendation is to wait until your baby is at least 6 months old to feed them eggs, with guidelines from the early 2000s recommending avoiding it until they’re 1 to 3 years of age.However, a study published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics is recommending earlier introductions to reduce food allergies.Comparing two Australian population samples of 1-year-old infants, the study found that earlier egg intake resulted in a decrease of egg allergy prevalence from just over 9% of the participants to only 7.6%.As for why serving your kiddo up some scrambled eggs could reduce their chances of an allergic reaction, health experts believe it has to do with how the allergen is introduced.“What we know about the immune system is that if an allergen is introduced initially through skin exposure, the body actually produces an allergic response,” Dr.Gina Coscia, an attending physician of the Division of Allergy and Immunology at Northwell Health who was not involved with the study, told The Post.“However, if the initial introduction of a food allergen is through oral exposure, through ingestion of the food, that actually produces a protective response to the allergen,” Coscia added.The new recommendations are a major change from current guidelines, which say to avoid allergenic foods until three years at the latest — particularly in kids with a family history of allergies....