Does eating eggs during pregnancy change the chance of egg allergy in a newborn? Some researchers thought that avoiding certain foods while pregnant might protect the baby from developing allergies.
This study asked mothers to avoid eggs during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Researchers then tracked whether their infants developed egg allergy or related allergic conditions.
The results were inconclusive. Dietary avoidance of egg turned out to be very hard to maintain. Compliance was too low to draw firm conclusions. The effect of high egg intake on infant allergy remains unclear. The study suggests that no single prevention strategy works for everyone. Some measures may help certain population subgroups more than others.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that if mothers avoid eating eggs during pregnancy and breastfeeding, incidence of egg allergy and associated allergic problems will be reduced.
If the body's mistaken alarm response to a safe food develops in early life, could keeping that food away from a developing baby prevent the reaction from forming? This study asked mothers to avoid eggs during both pregnancy and breastfeeding, then tracked whether their infants developed egg allergy or related allergic conditions. The results were inconclusive. Dietary avoidance of egg turned out to be very hard to maintain, and compliance was too low to draw firm conclusions.
When researchers studied whether a mother's diet during pregnancy could shape her baby's allergy risk, they asked mothers to avoid eggs entirely — both during pregnancy and breastfeeding. The goal was to test whether removing this common allergen from the diet would lower egg allergy rates in infants. Compliance turned out to be very hard to maintain, and too few mothers followed the restriction closely enough to draw firm conclusions. As a result, the effect of egg intake on infant allergy remains unclear.
Method & Materials
You will investigate the hypothesis that if mothers avoid eating eggs during pregnancy and breastfeeding, incidence of egg allergy and associated allergic problems will be reduced.
You will need data on the dietary habits of pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, as well as data on the incidence of egg allergy in infants.
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The results demonstrate that there is not an all-encompassing panacea for the prevention of allergic disease, but that some prevention measures may have their place in certain population sub-groups. An observation that stands out is that dietary avoidance of egg is difficult to achieve.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting and unique because it investigates the potential influence of maternal dietary habits on the development of food allergies in infants.
Also Consider
Experiment variations to consider include investigating the effect of other food proteins on the development of food allergies in infants, as well as investigating the effect of maternal dietary habits on the development of other allergies.
Full project details
Additional information and source material for this project are available below.
