Researchers studying the effects of pregnancy diet on children's food allergens say some parents are confused about introducing certain foods to babies due to a change in messaging over the past five years.
Western Australia's Telethon Kids Institute Associate Professor Debbie Palmer said in the early 2000s parents in the United States were told babies and young children should avoid common allergic foods, such as peanuts and eggs, to prevent allergies.
But studies in the past few years have found the opposite.
Professor Palmer said research showed that early introduction of allergens could help to reduce a child's chance of developing an allergy.
"That really made a change and confused a lot of families," she said.
"So sometimes it might be aunties, or people you meet in different family groups, they might advise [avoidance].
"But generally now, it's become more well-known that we need to go back to introducing these foods regularly in the diet of the baby."
Allergy pathways from birth
Professor Palmer is working on two research projects being led in WA that look at the impact of a pregnant woman's diet on the development of allergies.
"A lot of babies are on an allergy pathway at birth," she said.
"Something's happened when they were in utero and in that pregnancy period.
"[It was] the combination, whether it be diet, environment, genetics, but that combination has unfortunately pushed their developing immune system towards allergies."
One study has focused on feeding good gut bacteria in pregnant women by taking a prebiotic supplement, while a second study looked at how much egg and peanut consumption during pregnancy could impact a child's allergy development.
"The baby is having eggs and peanut exposure via Mum," Professor Palmer said.
"That is meant to tolerise the baby, so the baby doesn't develop allergies."
Professor Palmer said both studies were ongoing and would help to better educate parents about what they could do to reduce the likelihood of their child developing an allergy.
Introducing common allergens
Australia has one of the highest rates of food allergies in the world, with 10 per cent of children under the age of one developing a proven food allergy.
Preeti Joshi is a paediatric allergist immunologist and said the best way to introduce common food allergens was to start near six months of age, but not before four months old, and to continue the allergen on a regular basis.
"This means that you don't just give it once and then that's it, you've done it," she said.
"So you do need to keep it in your child's diet once you put it in."
Dr Joshi said research had shown that this method had helped to reduce allergies in some, but not all, children.
"I think that we need to take guilt out of all of this," she said.
"I think people try and do their best, and if you follow the best practice advice, that's the best you can do."
Dr Joshi said parents should not be scared to give children common allergy foods.
"I think we need to normalise eating and food and, hopefully by doing that, we reduce the rate of food allergies in Australia," she said.
Dr Joshi advised parents to speak to their GP if they believed their child had shown a reaction to a particular food.
