Factors Associated with the Development of Peanut Allergy in Childhood

The prevalence of peanut allergy appears to have increased in recent decades. Other than a family history of peanut allergy and the presence of atopy, there are no known risk factors.

We used data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a geographically defined cohort study of 13,971 preschool children, to identify those with a convincing history of peanut allergy and the subgroup that reacted to a double-blind peanut challenge. We first prospectively collected data on the whole cohort and then collected detailed information retrospectively by interview from the parents of children with peanut reactions and of children from two groups of controls (a random sample from the cohort and a group of children whose mothers had a history of eczema and who had had eczema themselves in the first six months of life).