Research published this month in the journal Pediatrics revealed that peanut allergies in children fell from 0.79 percent from 2012 to 2015 to 0.45 percent from 2017 to 2020, with an overall decline of 43 percent. This dramatic drop is due in part to a change in the advice medical professionals give parents about feeding peanuts to their young children.

Based on the findings of a 2015 study called the Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) trial, pediatricians, allergists, and immunologists began encouraging parents to introduce peanut foods into their babies’ diets early. The new guidance proved so beneficial that a 2021 LEAP update broadened it to include other allergenic foods, such as milk and eggs.