The findings of a recent research have proposed that infants fed only breast milk during their initial six months are at significant risk of developing nut allergies. The study conducted by a team of researchers from Australian National University has been published online in International Journal of Pediatrics.

The researchers discovered that the children that were fed liquids apart from breast milk were less likely to develop the nut allergies, in comparison to the other group, which was 1.5 times more likely to be affected by the condition by the time they started with their schools.

The researchers conducted a survey, in which they included parents whose children had recently started with their primary schools. The parents were asked to fill out ACT Kindergarten Health Check Questionnaire.

Study author Marjan Kljakovic, concluded: “Some 3.9 % of children starting school in the ACT have a parent-reported nut allergy, which is almost twice the rate of British children of the same age”.

It was suggested that breast milk cannot act as a protection against nut allergy, instead it was the cause.

However, Australian Breastfeeding Association have criticized the findings and condemned them and suggested that mother’s milk is best for an infant’s growth and mothers should breast feed their infants at least till they are six months old.