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21.06.06, 22:26
No właśnie, oto co wyczytałam w BabyCenter
Cereal before 6 months may help babies avoid food allergy
WEDNESDAY, June 7 (HealthDay News) — Contrary to the advice of some
pediatricians, a new study suggests that waiting to introduce babies to
cereal grains might not be a good idea if you want to prevent food allergies.
Babies who didn't eat grains until after they were 6 months old were more
likely to develop wheat allergies, researchers report.
"We recommend introducing cereal grains between 4 and 6 months of age," said
study co-author Dr. Jill Poole, an assistant professor of allergy, asthma and
immunology at the University of Nebraska.
Poole initially expected the research would confirm the post-six-months
recommendation.
For reasons that aren't entirely clear, food allergies are becoming more
common among U.S. children, affecting an estimated 3 percent to 6 percent of
all children, Poole said. Wheat allergies are among the top five allergies,
which also include egg, milk, soy and peanut allergies.
There's controversy about when to expose babies to cereal grains, which are
typically the first foods that babies eat after breast-feeding. Some
specialists recommend cereal grains be introduced after 6 months of age,
while others advise that they be given between 4 and 6 months.
For the new study, Poole — who was working at the University of Colorado at
the time of the research — and her colleagues enrolled 1,612 children between
1993 and 2004 and followed them through the age of four.
Just one percent of the children — 16 kids — developed wheat allergies. But
the study revealed that children who were first exposed to cereals (wheat,
barley, rye and oats) after six months were 3.8 times more likely to have
developed an allergy than those who first ate cereals earlier.
The risk of wheat allergy also went up by 1.6 times if the child was exposed
to rice cereal after 6 months of age and by nearly four times if a parent or
sibling had asthma, eczema, or hives, the researchers found.
The study results appear in the June issue of the journal Pediatrics.
Poole acknowledged that the number of children in the study who developed
grain allergies was very small. But, she added, there was a "strong
association" linking their allergies to their introduction to cereal grains.
Why would it matter when babies eat cereal grains for the first time? It
seems to have something to do with the immune system, which overreacts in
people with allergies, Poole said.
"Previously, we had thought if you delay giving foods to a child, it gives
their immune system time to become mature and develop," she said.
But the study findings seem to debunk that theory, suggesting that perhaps
the body's immune system "needs to see the food protein earlier to know it's
not something harmful, and it shouldn't react to it," Poole said.
It may also be possible that children who begin eating grains later may eat
more, potentially aggravating their immune systems, she said.
Dr. Kevin Murphy, clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of
Nebraska, said genetic factors also appear to play a role in the development
of allergies.
He called the new study "excellent," and said it confirms the advice of the
American Academy of Pediatrics — introduce cereal grains between 4 and 6
months of age.
