New approach to prevent allergies in children

Mothers always worry about allergic reactions that afflict their children whenever they consume certain foods.

While some children outgrow them as they become older, others fail to do so and grapple with the condition throughout their lives.

“As a mother, you want to protect your child from any form of suffering. So I usually feel bad and helpless when my kid has these terrible allergies that I can’t control,” said Mercy Kirui, whose two-year-old son battles egg and peanut allergies.

Women with similar experiences or future mothers will be glad to know that they may indeed have some power to prevent or reduce the risk of allergies in their children.

A new study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine found that eating allergy inducing foods during pregnancy can protect children from developing food allergies.

This protection, noted the researchers, is further enhanced through breastfeeding once the baby is born.

In the study, which was conducted at Boston Children’s Hospital, pregnant mice that consumed allergenic (allergy provoking) foods such as eggs and peanuts transferred protective antibodies to their offspring through breast milk.

The antibodies caused the baby mice to produce special immune cells which made them tolerate the allergenic foods.

The breast milk was further found to be protective, even when it was fed to unrelated offspring of other mothers that did not consume allergenic foods during pregnancy.

“Whether mothers should eat allergenic foods during pregnancy or avoid them has been controversial,” said Dr Michiko Oyoshi, lead author of the study.

“Different studies have found different results, in part because it’s hard in human studies to know when mothers and babies first encountered a specific food. But in a mouse model, we can control exposure to food.”

The scientist now plan to further asses the mechanisms of the protective effect in breast milk antibodies among human populations.

These findings contribute to the growing amount of evidence that reject prior advice urging mothers to avoid highly allergenic foods during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.

For instance, new research by the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI) notes that the best way to prevent food allergies is to introduce children to a wide variety of foods – including allergy inducing ones – early in their life so as to enable them build protective antibodies against their effects early enough.

Previously, guidelines in the United States recommended that infants begin consuming cow milk, eggs and peanuts when they were a year, two years and three years old respectively.

Gladys Mugambi, head of nutrition and dietetics at the Ministry of Health, stated that mothers should eat a variety of all food types – proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins – to boost the health of their babies in the uterus before delivery and afterwards through breastfeeding.

She noted that this is a good way of exposing children to all recommended nutrients that boost their immunity and give them a good start in life.

“That’s why we keep insisting that mothers should breastfeed their children for the recommended period. It will keep their babies healthy and also pass antibodies that shield them from various diseases.”

Based on the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, children should be exclusively breastfed during the first six months of life. Thereafter, complementary foods should be introduced in addition to breast milk until the child is two years old.

The Kenyan demographic and Health Survey (KDHS 2014) shows that about 61 percent of children below six months are exclusively breastfed. Those who continue to breastfeed up to two years are 53 per cent.

Children can be allergic to any food, but 90 per cent of allergic reactions are caused by milk, eggs, peanuts, wheat, soy and fish.

Symptoms of mild allergies include rash, itching, nasal congestion (known as rhinitis), scratchy throat, hives (itchy red spots on the skin), watery or itchy eyes.

Severe symptoms include dizziness, abdominal cramping, pain or tightness in the chest, difficulty swallowing or breathing and vomiting or diarrhoea.