The National Allergy Council has launched the Nip allergies in the Bub Food Follower App, a free online resource designed to help parents and carers apply current food allergy prevention recommendations during infancy. The initiative seeks to address the growing burden of allergic disease in Australia, where one in 10 babies has a confirmed food allergy and more than eight million people are affected by allergic conditions.
Current evidence indicates that introducing common allergy-causing foods, including peanut and well-cooked egg, soon after infants begin eating solid foods can reduce the likelihood of developing food allergies. Updated infant feeding guidance from the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) recommends introducing these foods early and, if tolerated, continuing to include them in a child’s diet at least once a week.
According to the National Allergy Council, many parents remain uncertain about how to implement this advice in practice despite increased awareness of food allergy prevention strategies.
“Parents are hearing that introducing common allergy causing foods like egg and peanut matters, but many are unsure of when and how to do this or what to do next. The Food Follower App turns that evidence into something practical, helping parents introduce the common allergy causing foods and continue offering them regularly,” said Dr Sandra Vale, Chief Executive Officer of the National Allergy Council.
The Food Follower App forms part of the broader Nip allergies in the Bub program and was developed by the National Allergy Council, a partnership between ASCIA and Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia. Development was supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing and informed through consultations with parents and healthcare professionals, including focus groups and user feedback collected via the Nip allergies in the Bub website, which reaches more than 160,000 parents and healthcare professionals annually.
The app enables families to track the introduction of common allergy-causing foods, receive reminders to continue offering tolerated foods, and access practical feeding tips, recipes and age-appropriate guidance. Users can personalise the platform based on a baby’s age and family eating habits, record feeding progress and any observed reactions, and share information with partners, carers and healthcare professionals to support consistent care. The National Allergy Council said the app is intended to provide parents and carers with practical tools and confidence to follow the latest evidence-based recommendations for infant food allergy prevention.
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