Page 25 - MAY_2017

Starting Solids

and Preventing

Food Allergy

By Lauren Gladman

Introducing solid foods to your baby is a very
exciting milestone. These days however, with
the rise in food allergy, this excitement is
often tainted by anxiety about food allergies.
This combined with lots of new research and
therefore many changes to the introducing solids
recommendations can be confusing. So what is
the best way to move your baby from their first
mouthful to eating family foods? The following
is an up-to-date summary of what every parent
needs to know.

It is not fully understood why allergy, especially
food allergy, has increased so quickly in recent
years, particularly in young children. Allergy
prevention information is important to parents
and rightly so. In Australia recent studies show
that 10% of infants have an immediate food
allergy and severe reactions (anaphylaxis) have
increased 4-fold in the last 14 years. The reason
for this is a complex mix of lifestyle, environment
and genetics. No single cause has been identified
yet. There are many studies on allergy prevention
underway, however, to date there are no clear
guidelines on specific actions parents can take
to prevent food allergy in their children.

may 2017 | mychild 25