Feeding eggs and peanuts to babies may reduce their risk of developing food allergies, the largest analysis of evidence to date has found.

People commonly delay the introduction of foods such as peanuts, to their children, particularly if allergies already run in the family. UK scientists decided to look at this issue closer. They analysed data from 146 studies, involving over 200,000 children.

They said that the results suggest that children may be less likely to develop an allergy to eggs if they are fed eggs between the ages of four and six months. In fact, those who consumed eggs at this age had a 40% reduced risk of developing egg allergies compared to those who only tried eggs later in life.

They also found that feeding a child peanuts between the ages of four and 11 months may reduce the risk of developing a peanut allergy. In fact, they had a 70% reduced risk compared to those who consumed peanuts at a later stage.

The scientists also looked at other foods, such as milk, fish and wheat, however, they did not find enough evidence to suggest that introducing those foods early could reduce the risk of allergies.

"This new analysis pools all existing data and it suggests introducing egg and peanut at an early age may prevent the development of egg and peanut allergy - the two most common childhood food allergies.

"Until now, we have not been advising parents to give these foods to young babies, and have even advised parents to delay giving allergenic foods such as egg, peanut, fish and wheat to their infant," explained the research's lead author, Dr Robert Boyle, of Imperial College London.

Allergies to foods such as egg, nuts and milk are caused by a malfunction in the immune system, which causes it to over-react to these foods. Symptoms can include swelling, vomiting, rashes and wheezing.

The scientists noted that the number of children being diagnosed with food allergies appears to be on the increase and ‘there are indications that food allergies in children have become much more common over the last 30 years'.

However, the reason for this is unclear - doctors may be better at detecting food allergies or environmental factors may be involved, they suggested.

The UK team did emphasise that eggs and peanuts should not be introduced at an early age to babies who already have another allergy, such as eczema or some other food allergy.

"If your child falls into these categories, talk to your GP before introducing these foods. Also whole nuts should be avoided in young children - if you decide to feed peanut to your baby, give it as smooth peanut butter," Dr Boyle advised.

Whole foods, including peanuts, are a choking hazard in babies.

Details of these findings are published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.