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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

EAT Study - WWYD?

86 replies

LifeOfKate · 06/02/2010 18:32

Hi All,

We have had an invitation in the post to join a weaning/allergy study, details here

Basically it is a study into the effects of early introduction of allergenic foods (from 3 months old). The control group would be told to carry on as per current advice (exclusive BF until 6 months), the experimental group would have allergenic foods (wheat, dairy etc) introduced from 3 months old.

The researchers seem to think that it is actually later weaning that increases the risk of allergies.

I'm not sure whether to entertain the thought of being involved in this study, so thought I would ask all you lovely people on MN, WWYD or what do you think?

I'm also posting this on the weaning topic.

OP posts:
Morloth · 10/08/2010 13:25

How could you look your child in the eye and tell them that you took part in a study knowing that you were increasing the risks of allergies/intestinal diseases etc?

Would you have to sign a waiver saying that you/your child wouldn't sue if something actually happened?

MumNWLondon · 10/08/2010 13:56

Yup my SIL feels awful - ie maybe if she'd given him peanut butter he might not have the allergy. But she acknowledges he already had the allergy at age 2 and many people don't give peanut products before then.

madamefreckle · 13/08/2010 16:02

MumNWLondon - is that an argument for possibly introducing these allergenic foods early then? I'm so confused by all of this. I actually feel that it could be a valuable study and am in a position where I could take part as I plan to exclusively breastfeed for 6 months. It could be that in 10 years time we are all cursing ourselves for leaving introducing any solids until 6 months.

On the website they make the argument that
"This increase in food allergy has not been seen in some other countries. For example, there are countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East where peanuts are a regular part of an infant?s diet and yet peanut allergy is diagnosed far less often than in the UK".

The above does not give sufficient evidence in my opinion. Does that mean that they have introduced peanuts to babies under 6 months in these countries? What other foods do they introduce at this stage. What other factors might be at play?

As for this study, I think it would be a very unnatural type of weaning that would ONLY introduce foods that might cause allergic reactions - not as part of a mixed weaning diet!

Also, the number of babies exclusively breastfed for 6 months is TINY: Less than 1% in the UK. This study is not going to show anything about the allergic-potiential of the vast majority of infants who are formula-fed (solely or partially). Do we already know the differences in allergic reactions between the exclusively breastfed group, exclusively formula-fed and mixed-fed babies?

jemjabella · 13/08/2010 16:39

Over my dead body Grin

FrozenNorth · 13/08/2010 22:49

I tried to find out more about taking part in this study but because DD was born at 35 weeks we weren't eligible. I think if I'd had the chance to read all the relevant permissions (ethics committee etc) I would have considered taking part - as a pp mentioned not many people bf up to 6 months and beyond so I guess in this way I felt that we could be of use.

Brollyflower · 14/08/2010 09:22

Have you looked at where the funding for the study comes from? That's one thing I'd want to check out, to make sure there are no formula companies involved.

Brollyflower · 14/08/2010 09:25

OK, turns out that was very easy to check from your link Blush. The principal investigators receive money from Nutricia and Nestle.

Brollyflower · 14/08/2010 09:33

Sorry, just to be clear, it does not say those companies are actually funding this study -actually the funding doesn't seem to be set out clearly on the site as far as I can see, although there is a MRC logo -but the researchers have links with formula companies, which for me would ring alarm bells.

sheeplikessleep · 14/08/2010 11:57

I considered taking part and to the point of having a conversation on the phone with them, because of family history of allergies.

BUT, what made me decide against it were the two worst case scenarios:

  1. I give DS allergenic foods at 3 months as part of the study and he develops allergies. I would feel hugely guilty if this happened.

  2. I wait until 6 months (which I am doing) and then starting weaning. If he develops allergies, I can at least say to myself, well I followed guidelines at the time.

I can see some of the hypotheses being worthy of investigation (that food allergies have hugely increased since later weaning). BUT, I wasn't prepared to have scenario 1 happen.

belgo · 14/08/2010 12:00

I wouldn't because I don't agree with 'experimenting' on children and more importantly weaning is such a hassle I'd want to delay it as long as possible.

verylittlecarrot · 14/08/2010 16:45

Brollyflower Sat 14-Aug-10 09:25:31
OK, turns out that was very easy to check from your link . The principal investigators receive money from Nutricia and Nestle.

Nuff said.

Jaxxtapose · 26/10/2010 10:38

My daughter is 3 and has had reoccuring chronic constipation for nearly 2 years. The GP has been less than helpful and generally prescribes laxatives to 'get over it'. We took our own decision to remove dairy from the diet as my daughter was bf for a year and weaned at 5months. I couldn't help but think it was possibly cows milk causing the problem. We are still in test mode and do not yet have a definitive result.

I now have a 2 month old son and have received this leaflet and am keen to take part but am unsure having read some of the comments here. I do think it may be of benefit as i dont wish for my son to experience what my 3yr old has gone through as it is heart breaking to see them in such distress.

MiniMarmite · 26/10/2010 12:10

I've only had a fairly brief look at this thread and the details of the study but, like tiktok and others, I have some concerns about the ethics of this study.

There is no mention of regulatory or ethics approval having been granted for this study.

Clinical trials in foodstuffs is not within my area of expertise but my understanding would be that the trial would be exempt from requiring a Clinical Trial Application approval from MHRA and Ethics Committee approval.

I think it would be beneficial to receive clarification from the investigators and/or MHRA on this.

MiniMarmite · 26/10/2010 12:30

Actually, must have had ethics approval, right?

greenbananas · 26/10/2010 14:17

I've not heard of this study. Who is funding it and why?

cmg1880 · 26/10/2010 19:01

Just received an invite to the study in the post this morning so they are still recruiting. It seems to go against so much common sense. Why would I subject my baby to loads of uneccessary tests, give her solids that she doesn't need at the expense of bf all for the ske of a resercher in the pay of Nestle and Nutricia? Their website is www.eatstudy.co.uk if you want to read about it for yourselves.

MiniMarmite · 26/10/2010 19:58

Those of you that have received invitations - do you know how your contact details were obtained?

bedlambeast · 26/10/2010 20:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

MoonUnitAlpha · 26/10/2010 20:45

I received an invite too a few weeks ago when ds was about 6 weeks old - assume the hospital passed my details on, or maybe Bounty?

EvilAllenPoe · 26/10/2010 20:49

here is the detail on ethical approval

'Who oversees the ethical conduct of the study?
The EAT Study has ethical approval from the St Thomas' Hospital Research Ethics Committee (Reference: 08/H0802/93) and local research and development approval from Guy?s and St Thomas? Foundation NHS Trust (Reference: RJ1 08/0282).
The study is overseen by a Trial Steering Committee which has an independent chair (Dr Graham Roberts) and an independent Data Monitoring Committee who have both reviewed the study protocol to ensure it meets high levels of safety and ethical standards.'

there have been other studies into first world weaning that have failed to show a reltion between weanng age and allergies - this is further study on the same line.

cinnamongreyhound · 26/10/2010 20:50

I have agreed to join this but don't have our first appointment until January and can pull out at any time. The introdcution of the allergens is 2 teaspoons at a time so I don't consider that enough to reduce the amount of breastmilk. My main issue is weaning at all before 6 months, the lady I spoke to on the phone said 'most people are giving baby rice by 4 months anyway' which I wasn't with ds1 and wasn't intending to this time. The biggest worry for me is the wheat due to the permeability of the gut.

We don't know that by introducing these foods before 6 months are going to cause allergies or the study would have no purpose surely?

As others have said I would worry if ds2 did develop any allergies I would feel extremely guilty and wouldn't want to have to explain it to him.

I feel that I would like to help to answer questions about how these food allergies develop and help future generations of babies but not at the expense of my baby's health. Guidelines change all the time with new research that is carried out to increase our understanding and this could be once such study. When I was breastfeeding ds1 the recommendation was not to eat peanuts while bfing but now have been told to eat peanuts to introduce it early.

The other concern I have is that you never know how much of a contribution genetics have on the development of allergies and it would really depend on the numbers of participants the study has to be able to rule out the genetic factors. I wouldn't want to participate and for it to be a waste of time because the research isn't useful because of numbers of babies involved.

Interesting comments about the funding behind the study. Why is it so important that the babies are breastfeed exclusively? Those in the early weaning group are only given the allergens in the controlled quantities and breastmilk only and the other group breastmilk only until 6 months. If there was some hidden agenda with relation to formula why is there not a group who are only fed formula?

Just questions that have come up in my mind and am interested in other peoples take on it.

EvilAllenPoe · 26/10/2010 20:51

cmg1880 "common sense" is often wrong. that is why evidence based practice requires studies to base its conclusions upon, rather than conjecture.

cinnamongreyhound · 26/10/2010 20:53

No idea MiniMarmite, would be interesting to know if they are sent out to only those that were breastfeeding when leaving hospital or if it is from a form I've filled in such as bounty.

EvilAllenPoe · 26/10/2010 21:01

the research funding is , not, if i have understood correctly, from Nestle see here and draw your own conclusion though the top two dudes do receive money from nutricia/nestle as lecturers.

the medical research council, Kings college and the (now-defunct) FSA are all involved.

jandmmum · 26/10/2010 21:27

I received an invitation for this today and promptly put in the recycle pile despite the fact I have a medical research background. I am really surprised it has gained ethical approval since the research subjects cannot give informed consent. There is no way I would let my DC be a guinea pig. They may be right they may be wrong with their hypotheses but I'm not taking the risk.