In the late 1990s, it was believed that young children should exclude peanuts from their diets to reduce the chance of developing an allergy. In 2008, researchers were no longer so sure. This experiment evaluates whether peanut exposure is helpful or harmful. A peanut diet regimen (consume or avoid) was assigned to over 500 young children during years 2-5, ages during which children had previously been told not to eat peanuts. The key outcome was testing for a peanut allergy when each child turned 5.

A discussion of this study was featured on Healthcare Triage.

Data Source: Du Toit G, Roberts G, et al. 2015. Randomized Trial of Peanut Consumption in Infants at Risk for Peanut Allergy. New England Journal of Medicine 372:803-813.

• had_early_risk: Indicates if the child was deemed to be at elevated risk of developing a peanut allergy at the start of the study based on a pin-prick test.
• regimen: The peanut regimen assigned for the child, either "avoid" or "consume".
• allergic: Indicates if the child had developed a peanut allergy by the end of the study.