How You Can Prevent Your Child From Developing A Peanut Allergy

This is NOT a sponsored post and should not be taken as medical advice. The opinions and recommendations of product are strictly the voice of our writer. Thank you!
I am lucky enough to have kids that can graze a wide range of foods, without any allergies that we are aware of. When we can’t bring peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to school or camp it can seem like a minor annoyance, but for some moms, it’s a matter of life or death.
 
The good news is there may be hope in staving off a peanut allergy. If peanut products are introduced early in a child’s life.    
 
Bamba, a crunchy melt in your mouth peanut snack is- available at Trader Joe’s. A snack popular in Israel, has made its way to the U.S. 
 
It has 4 simple ingredients. Made with corn grits popped under high pressure, they are air-baked and coated with hot liquid peanut butter mixed with oil and salt. The cheese-puff like snack melts into a soft crumble of peanut butter goodness. My 4-year-old can easily finish a full 8 oz bag, which sells for about $.99. A bargain, compared to the same product sold in the specialty section of top grocery chains.
 
An addendum added last year to the “guidelines for the Prevention of Peanut Allergy in The United States” states, research indicates children in Israel have a lower chance of developing peanut allergies due to early exposure from one of their favorite national snacks, Bamba.
 
Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, adds “parents should introduce most babies to peanut-containing foods around the time they begin eating other solid foods, typically 4 to 6 months of age.”
 
In a 2015 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, said hundreds of infants between four and 11 months old who had severe eczema and other allergies were exposed to peanut products. The study suggests early sustained consumption of peanut products was associated with a “significant decrease” in the development of peanut allergy in high-risk infants, and exposure to peanut products was more effective than avoidance of them.   
 
I would not advocate exposing children with severe peanut allergies to peanut products without consulting a doctor. But introducing Bamba to babies and toddlers may be the key to beating the development of this deadly allergy.
 
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Dana
Dana is a working mom of two active boys, ages 4 and 8. She was born in Tel Aviv and raised in Atlanta. With a background in journalism, she spent 12 years chasing deadlines as a news and documentary producer, writer, international news desk editor, and web editor.  After the birth of her first child, it became obvious she was not going to be the next Katie Couric or Christiane Amanpour. She was still dedicated, but the only thing gained from the grueling weekend and overnight shifts was a case of gastritis. She remembers being "so busy" she could not step away for lunch/dinner/breakfast and would have to shove the food down while hovering over her computer. The disgusting crumbs piling up in the keyboard were hers. As luck would have it, another round of layoffs was near and she seized the opportunity (having survived a few layoffs before). Several months into her severance she was fortunate to find a job in PR and Communications, promoting a subject that felt like a natural fit.   The most important lesson she's learned since becoming a mom is: NEVER say never. "I will NEVER shop at Costco, drive a car with a carpool number, become a 'soccer' mom, live near my parents in a house in the suburbs."  She now does all those things and more she never thought she would with the utmost feeling of gratitude. 

3 COMMENTS

  1. So, is this an advertisement for the product? I have to admit, as the mother of a child with a severe peanut allergy this information rubs me the wrong way.

    • Rachel – Thank you for your feedback and we appreciate your opinion. This post is the opinion of our writer and her perspective, but is not a sponsored post nor advertisement. We’ve added note to call this out at the top of the post.

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