Study: Early Peanut Introduction Cuts Child Peanut Allergies

A large, multicenter analysis led by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and published Oct. 20 in Pediatrics examined electronic health records for more than 124,000 children across dozens of practices and found marked declines in IgE‑mediated peanut and other food allergy diagnoses after pediatric guidance shifted to encourage early peanut introduction. The researchers compared diagnosis rates before and after the 2015 LEAP trial–informed guidance and its 2015/2017 updates, and the broader 2021 recommendations to introduce peanuts around 4–6 months. Reported reductions include a 27.2% drop in cumulative peanut allergy incidence, with other coverage citing declines of roughly 40%, suggesting the intervention prevented tens of thousands of cases. Clinicians and allergists continue to advise introducing peanut‑containing foods at about 4–6 months and consulting a provider for infants at high risk (for example, those with severe eczema or existing egg allergy). Overall, the evidence supports early dietary peanut exposure as an effective, scalable public‑health strategy that has produced a measurable decline in childhood peanut allergy.