CHICAGO — Pediatricians’ use of “easy-to-implement tools” such as training videos, health record prompts and informational handouts to adhere to updated allergy-prevention guidelines could translate to a lower likelihood of children developing peanut allergies, a new study has found.
The study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, found that “supporting pediatricians with training, electronic health record prompts and educational materials for parents significantly improved their ability to counsel families on early peanut introduction.”
Early introduction of foods containing peanut into an infant’s diet reduced the risk of them developing a peanut allergy by 80%, the study notes, citing 2015 findings from a clinical trial in the U.K.
ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Tara Narula joined “Good Morning America” on Monday to explain the findings out of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
“This study looked at, ‘If we intervened in pediatric practices — video trainings, handouts to parents, education in the electronic medical record and reporting and also screenings for eczema — could we improve the counseling that they gave?'” she explained.
What to know about new study on early peanut introduction to prevent allergies
Food allergies affect 8% of children in the U.S., according to a 2018 article published in the journal Pediatrics, and just over 2% of those have peanut allergies. This marks an increase since the late ’90s, according to a 2015 study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, when it was only about 0.4%.
“It used to be in the past that if you were worried your kid might develop a peanut allergy, you actually didn’t give them peanuts at all until they were older,” Narula said Monday.
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According to Narula, a landmark study in 2015 “changed that,” revealing that earlier exposure for kids who are higher risk and introducing peanut-containing foods between 4 and 6 months could lower a baby’s risk of developing a peanut allergy by more than 80%.
“Even though this changed the guidelines since 2017, we still see about 20-30% of pediatricians only promoting this guidance about early exposure,” Narula said.
The latest findings released Monday looked at the efficacy of offering more guidance to 30 pediatric practices in Illinois — which included 18,000 kids — to help doctors adhere to the current allergy guidelines.
“About 84% received the appropriate guidance in the intervention group, versus about 35% that did not — clearly that training is improving the pediatrician’s ability to give the right message out,” Narula said.
The allergy guidance breaks children down into three groups: low-risk infants, or those who do not have eczema or egg allergies, for whom there’s no real risk introducing at any stage; moderate-risk kids, or those who have mild eczema and can be introduced to peanuts around 6 months; and high-risk kids, or those who have severe eczema or egg allergies, who should get tested for IG antibodies and meet with an allergist or doctor before introducing.
Researchers are still studying whether increased adherence to these guidelines will impact rates of developing peanut allergies.
Dr. Ruchi Gupta, the study’s lead author and a pediatrician and professor of pediatrics and medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a press release Monday, “Because pediatric visits at 4 and 6 months are so busy, this support is critical to ensure families receive clear guidance. Our hope is that these conversations will help parents feel confident introducing peanut products early. We want to reverse the trend of increasing food allergies in the U.S. through prevention.”