How research provided dramatic new ways to think about peanut allergies

In 2000 and the decade following, pediatricians recommended delaying the introduction of peanuts in babies and children until the age of three years to reduce this potentially fatal food allergy. Between 1997 and 2008, the rate of peanut allergy in children tripled.

Now, looking at the data, it’s clear that delaying the introduction of peanuts led to the alarming rise in peanut allergy. What followed was landmark research published in 2015 that completely changed how we approach the prevention of food allergies in infants and children.

Researchers were first intrigued by the strikingly low rates of peanut allergy in Israel, where babies commonly eat a popular peanut-based snack called Bamba soon after they begin solid foods. In contrast, peanut allergy was far more common in Western