Overview
- The study, which was presented Thursday at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology meeting, reviewed 3,170 pediatric records from 2021–2026 at two primary care clinics.
- Only about 28% of infants had peanut foods by the 6-month visit and about 68% by 9 months, showing low overall uptake of recommended early peanut introduction.
- Families who spoke a language other than English were far less likely to have introduced peanut by both the 6-month and 9-month visits even after adjusting for income and neighborhood factors.
- The gap between English- and non-English-speaking families did not close between the two visits, and the authors identify language itself as a barrier while calling for clinic outreach and multilingual nutrition and allergy resources.
- Findings come from a conference presentation and a single hospital system with 240 non-English cases representing 25 languages, so researchers say peer review and broader validation are needed before generalizing the results.