60k kids have avoided peanut allergies due to 2015 advice, study finds

Why earlier “avoid peanuts” advice existed

• Commenters note past guidelines were based on expert opinion, weak observational studies, and fear of anaphylaxis, not strong trials.
• Early studies linked skin and environmental peanut exposure (e.g., oils, lotions) to sensitization, so “avoid peanuts” seemed conservative.
• With little mechanistic understanding, officials prioritized avoiding rare but scary deaths over unquantified long‑term allergy risk.
• Some argue clinicians should have “shrugged” instead of issuing strong guidance; others respond that medicine must act under uncertainty and revise as data arrives.

Immune system complexity & exposure

• Discussion of how allergies reflect immune overreaction, and how early oral exposure can promote tolerance while skin exposure can sensitize.
• People reference hygiene/“old friends” hypotheses, farm vs city kids, outdoor play, and dishwashing by hand vs machine as potential factors.
• Several push back on simplistic slogans like “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” noting toxins (lead), infections (measles), and chronic injuries as clear counterexamples.

Parenting norms, sterility, and culture

• Many see the peanut story as part of a wider era of over‑protective, sterile parenting (no dirt, no risk), possibly increasing fragility and allergies.
• Others emphasize that reduced child mortality since mid‑20th century owes a lot to vaccines, antibiotics, hygiene, and safer environments, so “more exposure” is not universally good.
• Debate over “cry it out,” spanking, and media‑driven health panics illustrates how sticky bad or unproven advice can be.

Lived experiences & variability

• Multiple parents report following early‑exposure advice but still getting allergic kids, or the reverse; they conclude timing is only one factor (eczema, asthma, genetics also mentioned).
• Desensitization programs (daily peanuts, Bamba, etc.) are described as effective but burdensome, especially when the child dislikes peanuts.
• Israeli data and early Bamba studies are repeatedly cited as prior evidence that routine early peanut exposure lowers allergy rates.

Science, evidence, and trust

• Nutrition and allergy science are criticized as historically overconfident, with shifting advice and limited RCTs; regulatory and ethical barriers to trials are noted.
• Some suggest prior avoidance guidance likely caused many preventable allergies; others caution that population trends often have multiple drivers (e.g., diet changes, trans fats, microbiome).
• Several commenters express both respect for how far medicine has come and frustration at groupthink, politicization, and the slow correction of entrenched but wrong guidelines.