A new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics changes advice on preventing food allergies. The report says breast-feeding helps prevent babies’ allergies, but there is no good evidence for avoiding certain foods during pregnancy – like cow’s milk, eggs and peanuts. University of Iowa Dr. Miles Weinberger says the new report is evidence for pregnant mothers to check their family history for allergies.
"The major component of developing allergy is genetic," Weinberger says, "if you come from a family where there’s no history of food allergies, there’s very little likelihood the child’s going to have any." Weinberger says in the past seven years there hasn’t been enough evidence to support old recommendations.
"The bottom line of what they’re trying to do is say that we don’t have enough evidence to support the kind of recommendation that was made earlier," Weinberger says. He adds the only solid evidence to prevent food allergies is for mothers to breast-feed their infants. The new report also indicates there is no evidence soy-based formulas prevent food allergies.