New guidance for when parents should introduce foods to prevent allergies

There's new guidance to clear the confusion about when parents should introduce foods to prevent allergies.

The Academy of Pediatrics says delaying foods like eggs, fish, or even peanut products, beyond 4 to 6 months old doesn't prevent allergies. In fact, there's evidence that introducing peanuts as early as 4 months old can prevent bad reactions in high-risk kids.

High-risk means that the baby has a close relative with food allergies.

Doctors say giving those foods early - and giving them regularly - conditions immune cells in a baby's GI tract to tolerate them.

And they say there's a critical window of time to develop that tolerance.

Researchers estimate nearly 5 and a half million children in the U-S have food allergies.