Diverse Diet in Infancy Can Lower Allergy Risk

Diverse Diet in Infancy Can Lower Allergy Risk

Previously, it was recommended that delayed introduction of food has a beneficial effect. However, the most recent studies demonstrate that a greater diversity of foods in the first year of life in fact lower risk of allergic disease.

The study included 856 children form a European birth cohort. Information on feed during the first year of life from monthly parental diaries were collected. Questionnaires collected data on environmental factors and the development of asthma, allergic rhinitis, food allergy and atopic sensitization up to age six.

Based on a score consisting of six food items, food diversity was inversely associated with asthma risk. Similar inverse associations were noted for food allergy. There is an increase in forkhead box protein 3, a transcription factor for regulatory T cells and decreased expression of C€ germline transcript, a marker for antibody isotype switching to IgE

Author

Saraleen Benouni, MD Dr. Benouni specializes in the treatment of asthma, allergies, atopic dermatitis, and immune disorders for both adults and children. She has presented and published research at national allergy meetings and has authored papers on drug allergies and skin conditions. She is a member of the American College and American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, and the Los Angeles Society of Allergy, Asthma, and Clinical Immunology.