Despite several intervention trials involving modifications to the maternal diet , the effect of maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation in preventing food allergy remains unclear .
Summary Earlier introduction of allergenic foods is a promising intervention to reduce the risk of some food allergies in high-risk infants .
Purpose of review In the past decade , food allergy has been increasingly recognized as an important public health issue .
The role of maternal and infant diet in the development of food allergy has been a major focus of research throughout this period .
Recently , research in this area has moved from observational studies to intervention trials , and the findings from these trials have started to influence infant feeding guidelines .
In this article , we review recent studies of dietary interventions for preventing food allergy , summarize current knowledge and discuss future research directions .
Increased food allergy and vitamin D: randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
BACKGROUND To eluci date whether maternal vitamin D supplementation during lactation improves infantile eczema and other subsequent allergic disorders , a r and omized , double-blind , placebo-controlled trial was performed . METHODS Mothers ( n = 164 ) of infants with facial eczema at 1 month check-up were r and omly assigned to receive vitamin D3 supplements ( n = 82 ; 800 IU/day ) or placebo ( n = 82 ) for 6 weeks from May 2009 to January 2011 . The primary outcome was infantile eczema quantified on Scoring Atopic Dermatitis ( SCORAD ) index at 3 month check-up , and the secondary outcomes were atopic dermatitis , food allergy , and wheeze diagnosed by doctors up to 2 years of age . RESULTS There was no significant difference in SCORAD at 3 month check-up between the two groups . Doctor-diagnosed food allergy was significantly more common up to age 2 years in the vitamin D group ( 10/39 , 25.7 % ) than in the placebo group ( 3/40 , 7.5 % ; risk ratio ( RR ) , 3.42 ; 95 % confidence interval [ CI ] : 1.02 - 11.77 ; P = 0.030 ) . Moreover , at least one secondary outcome was also significantly more common in the vitamin D group ( 17/39 , 43.6 % ) than in the placebo group ( 7/40 , 17.5 % ; RR , 2.49 ; 95%CI : 1.16 - 5.34 ; P = 0.012 ) . CONCLUSIONS Vitamin D supplementation may not decrease the severity of infantile eczema at 3 months of age , but may rather increase the risk of later food allergy up to 2 years of age . Because a large number of subjects was lost to follow up , further study is needed to confirm the findings
Despite several intervention trials involving modifications to the maternal diet , the effect of maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation in preventing food allergy remains unclear .
Summary Earlier introduction of allergenic foods is a promising intervention to reduce the risk of some food allergies in high-risk infants .
Purpose of review In the past decade , food allergy has been increasingly recognized as an important public health issue .
The role of maternal and infant diet in the development of food allergy has been a major focus of research throughout this period .
Recently , research in this area has moved from observational studies to intervention trials , and the findings from these trials have started to influence infant feeding guidelines .
In this article , we review recent studies of dietary interventions for preventing food allergy , summarize current knowledge and discuss future research directions .