First Study Measuring Awareness and Implementation of 2017 NIAID Peanut Allergy Guidelines Across a Range of Providers Published in Journal of Pediatrics

McLEAN, Va., (August 20, 2024)—FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education), today announced a new study published in The Journal of Pediatrics that reveals significant gaps in the awareness and implementation of the 2017 National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) peanut allergy prevention guidelines among U.S. pediatric healthcare providers.

This is the first survey to measure awareness and implementation of these guidelines in a nationally representative sample of clinicians from the broad pediatric healthcare workforce. An important perspective, as persistent healthcare workforce shortages mean pediatric care is more often being delivered by a range of providers, including pediatricians, family physicians, and advanced practice providers (APPs).
The findings show that despite the critical role that early introduction plays in preventing the development of peanut allergies, awareness of and adherence to the guidelines was suboptimal across a range of care providers.

• Findings show that 76% of pediatricians reported awareness of the guidelines.
• 58% of dermatologists, 52% of family physicians, and 45% of APPs reported familiarity with the recommendations.

“Because the 2017 NIAID guidelines marked a pivotal shift in the approach to peanut allergy prevention reversing previous recommendations that advocated delaying peanut introduction, it’s important that both providers and parents have the latest information,” said Sung Poblete, PhD, RN, CEO of FARE. “Unfortunately, what we’re observing in this survey is a gap that is leaving parents without modern guidance for food allergy prevention, and ultimately, leaving infants without protection against the development of peanut allergies that early introduction can provide.”

Food allergies are on the rise and affect more than 33 million people in the US alone. According to the published research, “Among common childhood food allergies, peanut is one of the most prevalent and persistent,” and is “the most common cause of severe food-induced allergic reactions, food allergy-related emergency department visits, and fatal food-related anaphylaxis in the United States.”
The lead authors of this study are Julie Wang, M.D., and J. Andrew Bird, M.D., with all authors members of FARE’s Food Allergy Prevention Advisory Council. The article is open access and is available here.