A decade after a landmark study proved that feeding peanut products to young babies could prevent the development of life-threatening allergies, new research reveals that this shift in guidelines has made a notable impact.

Since 2015, when new guidance recommended introducing peanuts to infants starting as early as 4 months, around 60,000 children have avoided developing peanut allergies. Dr. David Hill from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who conducted the analysis of health records from pediatric practices, stated, “I can actually come to you today and say there are fewer kids with food allergies today than there would have been if we hadn’t implemented this public health effort.”

The researchers discovered that peanut allergies among children ages 0 to 3 dropped by over 27% following the initial 2015 guidelines and by more than 40% after updates in 2017.

Despite this progress, overall food allergies continue to increase in the U.S., affecting about 8% of children, with over 2% diagnosed with peanut allergies today. A peanut allergy occurs when the immune system mistakes proteins found in peanuts as harmful.

For many years, pediatricians advised delaying the introduction of peanuts and other allergy-prone foods until children were at least three years old. However, the groundbreaking LEAP trial published by Gideon Lack demonstrated that early introduction of peanuts could reduce the risk of developing these allergies by more than 80%.

The adoption of the new guidelines has faced challenges, as surveys indicated that not all pediatricians and allergists have fully integrated the advice into their practice—only about 29% and 65% respectively adhere to the updated guidelines as of the latest findings.

Confusion regarding the best practices for early introduction of allergens contributed to this slow uptake, but the data now shows that early allergen introduction is having a measurable impact, according to the authors of the study.

Efforts are encouraged by organizations such as Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE), emphasizing the importance of incorporating peanuts and other allergens between the ages of four and six months without testing beforehand. Parents are advised to consult pediatricians for tailored advice on introducing foods safely to their babies.

As the findings highlight a significant opportunity to curb the incidence of peanut allergies nationwide, advocates for the 33 million Americans living with food allergies are optimistic about the future.