Fifteen years ago, with nut allergies on the increase, the American Academy of Pediatrics suggested that children avoid peanuts until the age of three. In 2008, the academy retracted their earlier advice; there was no evidence to suggest that steering clear of nuts had any impact on allergies.Now, in a complete about-turn, the latest research states that actively feeding infants nut products can prevent allergies later in life.A study published by the New England Journal of Medicine two weeks ago shows that infants with a high risk of developing a nut allergy can stave it off if they consume nut products.The LEAP (Learning Early About Peanut) study randomly tested more than 600 children between the ages of four and 11 months for a five-year period to show that regularly eating products containing nuts would help protect their immune systems rather than create an allergic response.The study was sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is part of the United Kingdom's National Institutes of Health.According to the LEAP website, 17% of the children who avoided peanuts developed a peanut allergy by the age of five while only 3% of the children selected to eat a peanut snack three times a week developed an allergy within the same time period."For decades allergists have been recommending that young infants avoid consuming allergenic foods such as peanuts to prevent food allergies," said Gideon Lack, lead investigator for the LEAP study and professor of pediatric allergy at King's College London."Our findings suggest this advice was incorrect and may have contributed to the rise in peanut and other food allergies."In the United States, where avoidance of peanuts and tree nuts during pregnancy, lactation, and infancy is promoted, nut allergy has doubled over the past 10 years. Peanut allergy is now the leading cause of anaphylaxis and food allergy-related deaths.In South Africa, some schools have banned nuts and peanut butter from school lunch boxes.Local allergy consultant Dr Adrian Morris said although there are no South African statistics, at least one in 50 children now have a peanut allergy. Morris, who consults from his allergy clinics in Cape Town and Johannesburg, advocates introducing peanut butter into the diet under one year of age, unless the child is already peanut sensitised. However, once a nut allergy is established, total avoidance is necessary. Only 20% of children will outgrow their nut allergy, he said."Avoiding allergen exposure during pregnancy and under one year of age has backfired and we have created a generation of unnecessary allergy sufferers," said Morris...