Researchers are closer to cracking an investigation into the exponential increase in childhood food allergies after confirming a genetic link between allergies and eczema.
The latest research from Australia shows infants with a genetic predisposition to eczema may be at risk of developing food allergies, but actually consuming food could protect against developing a full-blown allergy.
The study by Murdoch Children's Research Institute scientists in Melbourne backs up their previous finding that introducing cooked egg to babies at four to six-months reduced the risk of developing an egg allergy.
The new findings, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, suggested both genetic and environmental factors played a role in the development of childhood food allergies, study leader Professor Katie Allen said.
DNA samples were taken from 700 infants to investigate changes in a gene linked to eczema, called filaggrin, and the risk of developing food allergy in one-year-olds.