Scientific Study

Emerging evidence for the early introduction of allergenic foods for the prevention of food allergies, such as peanut allergy in Western populations, has led to the recent publication of guidelines in the USA and Europe recommending early peanut introduction for high-risk infants with severe eczema or egg allergy. Peanut allergy is, however, much less prevalent in Asia compared to the West. Varying patterns of food allergy are seen even within Asian countries-such as a predominance of wheat allergy in Japan and Thailand and shellfish allergy in Singapore and the Philippines. Customs and traditions, such as diet and infant feeding practices, also differ between Asian populations. Hence, there are unique challenges in adapting guidelines on early allergenic food introduction to the Asian setting. In this paper, we review the evidence and discuss the possible approaches to guide the timely introduction of allergenic food in high-risk infants in Asia.