Allergy Prevention- early introduction rather than avoidance

Discussion continues about what advice should be given to parents to prevent allergies in their children. The Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) advises for the development of immune tolerance and prevention of allergy, solid foods should be introduced between 4 to 6 months of age and that no particular allergenic foods need to be avoided (1). Sweden has also recently removed its advice to parents that high risk allergenic foods such as  fish, peanuts and eggs not be introduced duriing the infants first year.  A recent viewpoint article in the Acta Paediatrica provides a good overview of the evidence for the change of thinking in preventing allergy from avoidance to early introduction (2).

Mothers' experiences with bottle feeding

Despite breastmilk providing the best source of nutrition for infants and mothers being actively encouraged to breast feed, the majority of infants at some time during their first 12 months of life will be given an infant formula. In Australia, about 83% of mothers start  breast feeding in hospital. By six months of age only about 48% of infants are still breast fed and by 12 months this has further declined to around 23% (1). The Australian Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents recommend the use of a commerical infant formula when breastfeeding is discontinued before 12 months of age (2). A recent systematic review of the published literature has looked at parents' experiences with bottle feeding, in order to find out where they received information, the support given and how they prepared and gave the feeds (3).

Voluntary addition of fluoride to bottled water

Up until now, bottled or packaged water has not been permitted to contain added fluoride. This has now changed, with the recent approval by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) of the voluntary addition of fluoride to bottled or packaged water. Manufacturers will be able to add flouride to a level similar to that in tap water ( 0.6-1.0mg/litre). As the addition  is voluntary, unfluoridated bottled water will be still be available. The label will indicate whether the water contains flouride (1).

Fortification of bread with folic acid and iodine

Folic acid and iodine are two important nutrients necessary for the healthy development of infants and children, beginning from the time of conception. To reduce the risk of women of child bearing age and children not receiving enough of these nutrients, bread will be required by law to contain added folic acid ( from September 2009) and added iodine ( from October 2009). Folic acid will be added to wheat flour used for making bread and bread products containing yeast, while iodine will be added as iodised salt, replacing non iodised salt. Organic breads and bread products will not have to contain added folic acid and iodine and salt free breads will not contain iodine (1,2).