01/10/08 Avoiding Certain Food during Pregnancy

Why are so many mothers fanatical over what their little tykes should and shouldn't eat? Heck I was from the generation where we had to clean everything on our plate, period, and I sure don't remember having friends who couldn't eat pizza or peanuts. My nephew was 11 before he was allowed to have a chocolate chip cookie or a Hershy's Kiss, all because his mom was afraid he "might" have a reaction to something we now know he was never allergic to after all. Then there are the new mothers beating themselves up over the fact their child does have a food allergy. "It must have been that dinner I had in the third trimester, I shouldn't have had those pine-nuts." Hogwash. The American Academy of Pediatrics recently released new findings stating there is no evidence that avoiding certain foods during pregnancy helps to prevent food allergies but what does avert a host of problems is to breast feed a baby for at least four months. That little sacrifice usually absolves any aversion towards to cow's milk and food allergies and even can protect a baby from developing a wheeze.