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 .
Early exposure to cow's milk protein is protective against IgE-mediated cow's milk protein allergy.
BACKGROUND The diversity in the perceived prevalence , recovery , and risk factors for cow 's milk allergy ( CMA ) necessitated a large-scale , population -based prospect i ve study . OBJECTIVE We sought to determine the prevalence , cross-reactivity with soy allergy , and risk factors for the development of CMA . METHODS In a prospect i ve study the feeding history of 13,019 infants was obtained by means of telephone interview ( 95.8 % ) or question naire ( 4.2 % ) . Infants with probable adverse reactions to milk were examined , skin prick tested , and challenged orally . RESULTS Ninety-eight percent of the cohort participated in the study . The cumulative incidence for IgE-mediated CMA was 0.5 % ( 66/13,019 patients ) . The mean age of cow 's milk protein ( CMP ) introduction was significantly different ( P < .001 ) between the healthy infants ( 61.6 + /- 92.5 days ) and those with IgE-mediated CMA ( 116.1 + /- 64.9 days ) . Only 0.05 % of the infants who were started on regular CMP formula within the first 14 days versus 1.75 % who were started on formula between the ages of 105 and 194 days had IgE-mediated CMA ( P < .001 ) . The odds ratio was 19.3 ( 95 % CI , 6.0 - 62.1 ) for development of IgE-mediated CMA among infants with exposure to CMP at the age of 15 days or more ( P < .001 ) . Sixty-four patients with IgE-mediated CMA tolerated soy , and none had a proved allergy to soy . CONCLUSIONS IgE-mediated CMA is much less common than generally reported . Early exposure to CMP as a supplement to breast-feeding might promote tolerance . Finally , soy is a reasonable feeding alternative in patients with IgE-mediated CMA
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 .