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Comment by ghshephard | Hacker News Reader

Entirely possible that Parent in the United States are paranoid over what they feed their children, and have been given strict guidance by their pediatricians to not feed peanuts prior to age three under threat of being a "Bad Parent."

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We have suspected that parents are too protective.

http://www.m.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/features/kids-and-dirt-...

I don't know if it's better to give children under three peanuts or not, but I don't see why it's fair to characterize the people who advise against it, as accusing people of being "Bad Parents".

Has the advice been presented in a particularly emotive or extreme way, that would justify your characterization? If not, I think you are muddying the debate by using this kind of language.

I'd say that giving children under three peanuts is a bit miserly - give them at least half a dozen. They're pretty cheap... :)

I read it this way the first time, too.

I've also heard a theory that U.S. federal assistance to mothers gave lots of peanut butter, possibly leading to more allergies. I can't find the reference, though.

Giving more peanut butter to people might discover an existing allergy, but I was under the impression that more exposure to allergens lowers the risk of the immune response to the allergen. That's the idea behind allergy shots.

I'm not a doctor, though, so some clarification on that would be helpful from anyone who knows more than I do.

Which is entirely contrary to the results of this research, which indicates that exposure to peanut proteins at a young age radically reduces peanut allergies.

That doesn't explain the massive increase in wealthy children with these allergies.

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