Dietary Interventions in Infancy

Abstract

The prevalence of food allergies in infants has increased, indicating that maturation of the infant's immune system and the development of oral tolerance to food antigens are hampered. Exposure to an altered Western diet and hygienic living conditions appear to skew the infant's immune response toward an atopic phenotype. Allergen avoidance strategies are challenged nowadays and active tolerance induction via immunomodulatory food components and/or modified allergens is of key interest. Dietary interventions with probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, or antioxidants show potential in supporting tolerance induction. Clinical trials have provided promising results. However, variation in the timing, dose, duration, and type of dietary intervention used delay its implementation in early-life strategies for allergy prevention. Modulation of the infant's immune response might benefit from applying dietary interventions prenatally as well as postnatally.