I have been thinking about how to respond to this since it first 
started circulating--this is what I think--no amount of restricting 
solid foods (which most mothers do not do anyway) is going to undo the 
gut damage being done in utero, and through medicalized birth, feeding 
of toxic foods to babies (including GMOs), use of abx and other meds in 
in infancy, vaccines and poor maternal diet.

I do not think allergies are on the rise bc mothers have been told to 
hold off on solids--I think they are on the rise at such a rapid clip 
that no such intervention is going to stem the tide. Has anyone 
considered that the rate of increase in allergens was already rising 
and that it may have risen even faster if this intervention had not 
been at least somewhat followed.

I think reversing the recommendation is very dangerous, especially 
given the poor quality weaning foods most children are fed in the West.

The other things is these new guidelines in and of themselves are 
appalling, I have read them in their entirety. Not one holistic 
practitioner, nor anyone who is an expert in gut function, nor one 
doctor practicing functional medicine was involved. Yet, the guidelines 
claim that children are being overdiagnosed with allergies (they are 
being UNDERdiagnosed!!) and that testing that is not done by 
traditional labs in inaccurate, which is also untrue. They attempted to 
narrow the definition of an allergen and ignored the consequences of 
sensitivities and gut damage caused by simply exposing children to 
non-foods. They made the false claim that most children outgrow 
allergens--when every holistic practitioner knows they simply take on 
new symptom constellation, which is typically more dangerous and 
chronic.

This, along with the inane food plate that replaces the inane food 
pyramid that replaced the inane 4 food groups, is a disaster for human 
health in every way.

This is not, IMO, about science. It is about money.

Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, France
Intuitive Parenting Network, LLC


It's interesting that you should mention the starting of solids and 
food allergies, Gonneke.

In the USA, new guidelines have just been issued on the subject. The 
information hasn't yet filtered down through all the various governing 
bodies (like the American Academy of Pediatrics, etc) so it hasn't yet 
been disseminated far and wide, but that may just be a matter of time.

According to a colleague of mine, who is a pediatrician, allergist and 
pulmonary specialist, the research on which the new guidelines are 
based is sound.

One thing I have heard repeatedly over the past few years if that 
delaying the introduction of complementary foods has NOT had the 
expected results of lowering the rates of food allergies - in fact, the 
opposite seems to have occurred. Very strange, but apparently true. (I 
am no expert on the subject.)

The new guidelines recommend beginning solids at 4-6 months of age 
(versus the currently advocated 6 months), and to even include highly 
allergenic foods (containing milk, eggs, peanut, tree nuts, soy, or 
wheat).

·    ‘Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Food Allergy in 
the United States’ - 
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/foodAllergy/clinical/Pages/default.aspx
·    ‘The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology’ article, entitled 
‘Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Food Allergy in the 
United States: Report of the NIAID-Sponsored Expert Panel‘: 
http://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(10)01566-6/fulltext 
(especially Section 5.3)

I wonder what the powers-that-be will be recommending 5-10 years from 
now, once we've had a chance to see how the new guidelines pan out??

Fay Bosman, IBCLC
www.nwmothernurture.com

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