Early years supplementation may cut allergy risk

Giving children multivitamin supplementation during pre-school years could help cut their chances of developing food allergies, reports foodingredients.com.

This conclusion is the result of research work carried out by scientists in Sweden.

The scientists, from the world renowned Karolinska Institute, studied multivitamin supplementation in 2,423 eight-year olds. They found that supplementation had no effect on the incidence of asthma, allergic rhinitis, eczema, or atopic sensitization.

But when researchers limited their analysis to children who started supplementation before the age of four, they found a 39 per cent decrease in the risk of sensitisation to food allergens.

The Karolinska Institute team concluded: “Our results show no association between current use of multivitamins and risk of allergic disease but suggest that supplementation with multivitamins during the first years of life may reduce the risk of allergic disease at school age.”

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