Wellness Unmasked Weekly Rundown: New Data Shows 27% Drop in Peanut Allergies: Dr. Nicole Saphier on How Early Exposure Is Changing Kids’ Health

Dr. Nicole Saphier breaks down groundbreaking new data showing a 27% decline in peanut allergies among U.S. children under three. She explains how updated FDA-backed guidelines promoting early peanut introduction are helping reverse decades of allergy fears. Dr. Saphier discusses the science behind early allergen exposure, why consistency is key for parents, and what this public health success means for the future of childhood nutrition and allergy prevention. Wellness Unmasked is part of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network - new episodes debut every Tuesday & Friday.

Follow Clay & Buck on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/clayandbuck

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Wellness sun Mass. I'm doctor Nicole Sathfire and
this is your weekly rundown. Well, this is a bit
of happy news in pediatrics. We've heard about it. We
always hear about peanut allergies. But peanut allergies and kids,
they're finally starting to trend down. I mean, I don't
know if you feel the same way, but when I
was a kid, it felt like no one had a

(00:25):
penut allergy. Now, as my kids were growing up and
going through elementary school, it's like everyone had a pena allergy.
And let me tell you, sun butter, it is not
the same as peanut butter. It does not taste good.
But so here's the thing. Data is showing finally peanut
allergies they're on the decline. Let's talk about this. A
new multi site analysis just found out that penut allergy

(00:47):
rates in the US kids ages zero to three has
declined by about twenty seven percent. That's a big deal.
This comes after a twenty fifteen guidance encouraged earlier peanut introduction. Now,
if you remember, before twenty fifteen, people were like, okay,
do not introduce kids to peanut butter because of a

(01:09):
potential allergy. Well, when kids are not exposed to something
later on in life, if they're exposed, their bodies are like, WHOA,
what's this? This is foreign and that's how an allergy develops.
So we were wrong. We being the medical professionals. I
didn't come up with those guidelines. But medical professionals essentially

(01:29):
said no peanuts in babies, young kids because we don't
want to expose them to it. That unfortunately led to
the rise of peanut allergies. Twenty fifteen, they kind of
reverse course, saying, never mind, it's okay to introduce peanuts
and peanut butter to younger kids. And now we're finally
seeing the effects of that change by a decline of

(01:51):
twenty seven percent, and by the way that decline, it
actually grew past forty percent after the twenty seventeen updates
published by pediatricians everywhere. That actually was to put that
in vice in practice. Twenty fifteen, we said you really
should encourage or have your kids be exposed to peanuts.

(02:11):
Twenty seventeen they're like, yep, you absolutely need to do it.
So we saw a twenty seven percent reduction after those
twenty fifteen guidance, but up to a forty percent reduction
in pena allergies after putting it in place. What does
this mean in plain English? Changing when we feed babies
peanuts has prevented tens of thousands of kids from developing

(02:34):
this potentially life threatening allergy. So again, why would feeding
peanuts earlier protect against an allergy? Will? A landmark trial
a decade ago called leap showed that early regular peanut
intake in high risk kiddos slashed the chance of becoming
peanut allergenic by more than eighty percent. That single study

(02:56):
changed the world of food allergy, and now in real
life data outside of a controlled trial, we're actually seeing
population level benefits. So if you're a new parent or
you're about to be a parent, here's what the current
guidance means. It's practical for most infants non choking forms
of peanut. Think then smooth peanut butter or peanut powder

(03:21):
mixed into pure can be introduced around six months. Definitely
not before four months, because really they should just be
solely on breast milk or formula before then. You don't
want to start giving them solid foods because they're airways
their their gi system. It's just not equipped to handle that.
We would give our kiddos older than six months, when

(03:43):
they were still infants. We actually would take oatmeal, some egg,
and peanut butter and mix it all together. It sounds disgusting,
but let me tell you, my kids love it. And
by the way, none of them had a peanut or
egg allergy. I'm not saying it's because I did that,
but I'm just saying they loved it, and it was
high in protein. It was a great way to get

(04:04):
protein in these kids. So babies who have severe eggzema
or a known egg allergy should talk with clinicians obviously
before doing any of this, because the reality is allergies
still exist and it can still happen. So make sure
you're keeping tabs and in touch with your pediatrician as
you're introducing new foods, and once you start, just keep

(04:26):
it up. Consistency matters because the immune system learns through
repeated exposure. And by the way, this goes without saying,
but just in case, never give whole peanuts to infants.
These little bean peanuts, they are easy to swallow and
choke on. Please don't ever do that. Everything that goes
into an infant's mouth should be puraded. They have a

(04:50):
really high choking risk. So let's zoom out for a second.
Through the late nineteen nineties early two thousands, well intentioned
advice told families to delay these allergens peanuts, eggs, all
that it certainly didn't reduce risk. In fact, food allergy
prevalence rose substantially during those years. Course correction, introducing allergens

(05:12):
earlier has been one of the biggest public health wins
in pediatrics this decade, and it's big news. So is
there federal backing to the guidelines? Yep? Absolutely, FD eight
now is saying that introducing peanut and egg as early
as four months may reduce the risk of developing allergies.

(05:33):
That's a strong signal to clinicians, manufacturers, and parents alike.
So what's the bottom line. What's the take home here?
Earlier regular penut introduction is a rare win win. Yes,
this comes on the heels of bad advice that was
given a couple of decades ago. But course correction, we're
back to a win win and it's simple at the

(05:53):
kitchen table, powerful for immune training, and now clearly paying
off at the population level. As a mine, as a physician,
I'll take that kind of progress any day. I'm doctor
Nicole Saffire. This has been your weekly rundown. Thanks so
much for listening to Wellness and Masks. Make sure you
listen on iHeart Podcasts wherever you get your podcasts, and

(06:14):
we'll see you next week.