In 2008 a study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine reported that women who ate peanut products, such as peanut butter, every day during pregnancy were more likely to have children who wheezed, were short of breath, used steroids or were diagnosed with asthma between the ages of 1 and 8.
More than 4,000 pregnant women were interviewed, 1,327 of them with a family history of allergy and 2,918 without. They were asked about their diet and their children were followed from birth to 8 years. No link was found between the mother's intake of vegetables, fish, eggs, milk or dairy products and asthma. But children of mothers who ate peanut products daily were 42% more likely to wheeze, 58% more likely to be short of breath and 62% more likely to use steroids for asthma symptoms than children whose mothers rarely ate peanut. The authors said more studies were needed before recommending that pregnant women avoid peanuts.
About 4% of American children have a food allergy, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, and more than 1% of the US population, about 3 million people, are allergic to peanuts or tree nuts.
What the advice is today
Advice has changed a great deal since this study. Later, larger studies didn't confirm that eating peanuts in pregnancy causes allergy or asthma, and some found the opposite. Pregnant and breastfeeding women don't need to avoid peanuts unless they are allergic themselves. The old advice to keep peanuts away from children under 3 has also been dropped: the LEAP trial (2015) showed that giving peanut early, from around 4 to 6 months, greatly lowers the risk of peanut allergy in babies at high risk. Whole nuts should never be given to young children because of the risk of choking; use smooth peanut butter or peanut powder instead, and talk to your doctor first if your baby has severe eczema or a known food allergy.
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