Does the Benefit of Early Peanut Introduction Persist into Adolescence?

In 2015, the LEAP trial revolutionized food-allergy care by showing that peanut allergy at age 5 was 80% less common in infants with egg allergies or eczema who regularly consumed peanuts than in those who avoided peanuts (NEJM JW Gen Med Mar 15 2015 and N Engl J Med 2015; 372:803). This effect persisted after 1 year of peanut avoidance. Now, in the LEAP-Trio follow-up study, ≈80% of the original 640 children who participated were evaluated again at age 12, after 6 years of peanut consumption at their discretion.

Peanut allergy still was significantly less common in adolescents who consumed peanuts when they were infants than in those who avoided peanuts during the first 5 years of life (4.4% vs. 15.4%) This benefit persisted even among adol…