Preventing Allergies

There are a number of things parents can do to decrease the odds of their child developing allergies. While this may not help you if you’re dealing with a child whose already allergic, it may help fend off the allergy bug with any future siblings. Some of these tips may also help your child outgrow their allergies.

1. Avoid a c-section whenever possible, especially an elective one. (Many, if not most, of the c-sections performed today are unnecessary.) Kids born by c-section are at a higher risk for food and other allergies because they aren’t exposed to healthy bacteria in the birth canal like children who are born normally.

2. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that mothers breastfeed until their child is at least 4 months old in order to reduce food allergen risks. Breastfeeding transfers immunity from mother to baby. The longer a baby is breastfed, the better.

3. There’s no evidence that pregnant or nursing mothers should avoid certain foods.(Kramer & Kakuma, 2006) In fact, the more diverse the mother’s diet, the less of a chance a child has of developing food allergies, since infants essentially “taste” both inside the womb and from what they encounter in breast milk to educate their body on what to eat later.

4. For the longest time pediatricians advised parents that certain foods shouldn’t be given to young children in order to reduce the risk of allergies. It turns out that this advice was not only wrong, but entirely backwards. Keeping kids from exposure to certain foods appears to INCREASE the allergy risk, not reduce it. For example, a 2008 study in the +Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology compared more than 5,000 children in the U.K. against the same amount of kids in Israel. It was found that the rate of peanut allergies among kids in the U.K. was 10-times higher than that of kids in Israel, who are introduced to popular snacks containing peanuts early on in their life, often before they were 6 months of age. Children in the U.K. typically didn’t get peanuts until after the age of 1. In the U.K., babies averaged zero servings of peanuts per month; in Israel, they averaged 8 servings per month. (Du Toit et al., 2008)

5. While it’s not advised that parents avoid potentially allergenic foods (as previously discussed, it tends to increase, not decrease,the allergy risk), some doctors believe that you should avoid the high risk foods (cow’s milk, eggs, peanuts, nuts, wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish) if your baby is sick or taking antibiotics. (Greene, 2009) The reason being is that it may increase the risk of developing an allergy if you introduce these foods during a time when their immune system is revved up and running in high gear. Consuming probiotics, foods rich in omega-3 fats, or organic milk over normal state-bought milk during pregnancy has been shown in some studies to result in less allergies and eczema in babies. Take probiotics and omega-3 supplements while nursing (or simply eat fish and yogurt, which provides these things naturally).

6. Eating a primarily Mediterranean diet has also been shown to help, probably because it features a variety of foods and flavors and is rich in nuts and vegetables. One study compared kids of moms who followed such a diet during pregnancy with peers whose mother’s didn’t . The kids of mothers who didn’t follow such a diet were about twice as likely to have positive allergic skin tests, more than four-times as likely to wheeze, and more than 3-times as likely to suffer both conditions (Greene, 2009) Try to work in a Mediterranean style diet for both you and your family.

7. Suck on your baby’s pacifier. Seriously. Research has found that when parents clean a baby’s pacifier by putting it in their own mouth and then transferring it to the baby’s mouth, it stimulates their immune system in a way that protects against future allergies.

8. Suck on your baby’s pacifier. Seriously. Research has found that when parents clean a baby’s pacifier by putting it in their own mouth and then transferring it to the baby’s mouth, it stimulates their immune system in a way that protects against future allergies.

9. Ensure that your kids spend plenty of time outdoors and in nature. Visit petting zoos. The more time they spend rolling in the dirt and being exposed to a variety of pathogens in small doses throughout everyday life, the stronger their immune system will become and the less likely it is to over-react to harmless substances. Kids who grow up on farms have much lower rates of allergies and asthma for this reason.

10. Ensure that your kids spend plenty of time outdoors and in nature. Visit petting zoos. The more time they spend rolling in the dirt and being exposed to a variety of pathogens in small doses throughout everyday life, the stronger their immune system will become and the less likely it is to over-react to harmless substances. Kids who grow up on farms have much lower rates of allergies and asthma for this reason.