Are We Feeding Food Allergies? New Research Examines the Rise in Childhood Allergies
Swedish Study Links Diverse Diet at 9 Months to Lower Food Allergy Risk
A 2025 Swedish study published in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology has added new insight to the growing concern about rising food allergies in children—a condition that now affects roughly
1 in 13 children in the U.S. and about 1 in 20 children in Canada.
Researchers in Sweden analyzed food allergy data from over 2,000 infants and found that introducing a wider variety of foods at nine months of age—including common allergens like eggs and peanuts—was associated with a reduced risk of food allergies by 18 months, especially in children with eczema or no family history of allergies.
This supports newer feeding guidelines adopted in Sweden since 2019, which recommend breastfeeding for the first six months, while also introducing solids between four and six months, gradually increasing food variety. Interestingly, a more diverse diet at six months did not show the same protective effect as at nine months.
The study also stressed the importance of including plant-based foods like legumes, fruits and vegetables. And while early exposure helps, starting solids before four months did not show added benefit in allergy prevention.
The Vaccine Connection: Food Proteins as a Risk Factor
Still, the Swedish research stops short of identifying all causes. Other experts, including Vinu Arumugham (in a 2015 paper in Journal of Developing Drugs), point to potential links between food allergies and food proteins used in vaccines—like egg, dairy and gelatin. Arumugham warns that adjuvants such as aluminum compounds may increase the risk of sensitization when injected alongside these food proteins, noting that there are no regulated limits on allergen content in vaccines.
Ultimately, while diet diversity appears to help, the authors emphasize a broader need to explore genetics, epigenetics and environmental exposures to understand the full picture of the childhood food allergy epidemic.
Source: Swedish Study Investigates Food Allergy Increases in Children But Big Questions Remain,
The Vaccine Reaction, 2025
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