The start of complementary feeding is one of the moments that most doubts and concerns usually wake us up, but if Our baby already has some basic food allergy or high chances of developing future allergiesThe uncertainty about how to proceed with their diet is usually even greater.
However, not all parents know how to detect if your baby is more at risk that others suffer from food allergies, and if they already have another allergic child, the uncertainty of whether the same pattern will be repeated is usually customary. The expert doctor in allergology, Gloria Requena, gives us the keys to act in these special cases.
How to know if my child is at risk of developing food allergy?
This is one of the questions that parents usually ask ourselves when we begin with the introduction of complementary feeding, since the idea that our baby may suffer an allergic reaction with some food scares us a lot.
Dr. Gloria Requena, a specialist in Allergology at the University Regional Hospital of Malaga and a member of the Allergology team at the Alergomálaga Clinic, explains in what family circumstances we must pay special attention
Parents with some allergic base disease
As Dr. Requena tells us in an article, in the 70s, a study determined that the risk that children have of having a food allergy is between 38-58% if one of the parents has an allergic disease, percentage that amounts to 60-80%, if both have it.
But, What is meant by "allergic disease"?. Are we referring exclusively to a food allergy? Dr. Requena makes it clear to us:
"A basic allergic disease, it can be a rhinitis, bronchial asthma, atopic dermatitis, food allergy or environmental allergies"
Therefore, if the father or mother has any of these allergic conditions, you should know that your baby has a high percentage of probability of developing a food allergy, either in its infantile stage or throughout its life.
But it should be noted that what is inherited is the "predisposition" to suffer from allergy, not allergy or allergic disease itself that has the mother or father"The baby whose father has atopic dermatitis, could inherit the same allergic condition as him or develop any other, such as asthma or a food allergy, to give an example" - clarifies the specialist.
Direct relatives of the child with some allergic underlying disease
If the parents do not present, a priori, any allergic disease but in the child's family there are direct allergic members, such as a carnal uncle or a grandfather, this fact leads experts to think that parents would also be allergic, even if they have no symptoms.
"In the cases of children with allergies whose parents state that they have nothing, always there are usually direct relatives with allergic diseases, which leads us despite the fact that parents transmitted those genes to their children even if they have not manifested clinically (that is, with symptoms) the disease "- explains Dr. Requena.
"However, we must not forget that allergy can appear at any age and although at that time the parents have no symptoms, they may arise in the future or they may never appear "
Allergic brothers
In the same line of the previous point, if the parents do not present any allergic disease but they have a child with an allergy, they should know that the following children have a significant risk of developing an allergy food that could be the same, or not, that of his brother.
"In this case, as in the previous one, when there is an allergic brother whose parents say they have no allergic base disease, there is no doubt that they are the carriers of the gene that predisposes their children to be."
Therefore, if once we have analyzed our specific case, we think that there is a high probability that our child has an allergy (among which the food may be), it is convenient pay special attention when introducing complementary feeding.
How to proceed with complementary feeding in these cases?
However, it has been shown that delaying the introduction or avoiding certain potentially allergenic foods does not reduce the incidence of food allergies, in high-risk babies or in other children"Until recently, the introduction into the diet of foods that most frequently cause food allergies, such as egg, fish or nuts. And when the baby was already allergic to any food, this recommendation gained more strength "- says Dr. Requena.
- After six months, we can start offering other foods
So, e regardless of allergic predisposition that our baby may have, approximately after six months the WHO recommends starting to introduce another type of food, not forgetting that breastfeeding (whether it is maternal or artificial) should remain its main source of food.
In this regard, the most advisable thing would be to be guided by the indications offered in the nursing or pediatrician's office, since as the allergist explains to us, in each country and even in each region, the recommendations may vary to adapt to the diet of the society in which we live And from our family.
"The important thing is that the child ends up doing a diet just like the one his environment does. In our society, the ideal would be to have a Mediterranean diet, but this diet can be different in each house or family"
- And what happens to foods considered more allergens?
Certain foods, such as eggs, fish or nuts have a high potential allergic risk, so we should pay special attention when we introduce them to our children in the diet, especially if we talk about children with a basic allergy or a strong allergic predisposition.
We have already seen that do not delay its introduction or follow any special measures, except for its administration in small doses at the beginning - which we will increase over time - and wait a few days for the introduction of a new food in the diet.
Meanwhile, and until we are sure that our child tolerates well the new food introduced, we must ensure that there is no reaction or symptom that makes us suspect a food allergy.
In addition, the allergist advises us that once a new food has been introduced into the diet of a child with a higher allergic predisposition, we should maintain it regularly; that is, it is not worth giving it a day and not offering it again until after a week"There is no reason to delay the introduction of any food if there is no medical indication. It has been shown, for example, that the introduction around six or seven months of food like peanuts (always ground by the risk of choking !!) in the diet of children with high allergy potential, decreases the likelihood of developing allergy to this dried fruit in the future "- says Dr. Requena.
Therefore, and in summary, usually all babies (regardless of whether or not they are at risk of food allergy) they should start their complementary feeding from six months, and always under the criteria and prescription of the pediatrician.
The pace in the introduction of new foods in the diet of a non-allergic baby and another with a basic allergy or with a greater predisposition to suffer from it, should not be different (except, logically, the allergen food when this pathology already exists)
- IStock photos
- More information With "A" of Allergy, the blog of Alergomálaga
- In Babies and More, how many days do you have to pass between one food and another at the beginning of the complementary feeding ?, Complementary feeding: complete guide, Errors in the pediatrician's complementary feeding sheets: placing the food during the day in an immovable way, Complementary feeding: When to start? (I), Did you know that children can start eating eggs with 6 months? Giving eggs or peanuts at an early age would reduce the risk of allergies
