Continuing a trend, a recent study shows that consuming nuts while pregnant does not increase the risk of allergy in the child. In fact, it actually decreases the risk. In the past, it was recommended to wait to start young children on certain foods, hoping that it would decrease the risk of food allergies. But study after study has shown that not only is there no benefit to waiting to give children foods that may cause allergies, such as milk, eggs, peanut and tree nut products, waiting may actually increase the risk of allergy.
There have been similar concerns about consuming allergenic foods during pregnancy. In this large, prospective study, the children mothers who ate one to five or more servings of nuts per week while pregnant had a decreased risk of nut allergy.
This study provides further evidence for the current thinking that exposing young children to allergenic foods at an early age teaches the immune system that those foods are normal and decreases the risk of developing an allergy to them.
Current guidelines for feeding children were changed years ago to include early introduction of eggs and peanut products such as peanut butter, although old recommendations about waiting to start certain foods still seem to be out there. Now we can add pregnant women to this list. There is no reason to restrict foods in healthy babies or toddlers or in pregnant women; it does not prevent the development of food allergies. In fact, consuming these foods actually decreases the risk of allergies.
