Can mothers reduce their child's risk of getting eczema by avoiding certain foods during pregnancy and while breastfeeding?
There is no proof that women can reduce their child's risk of developing eczema by avoiding certain foods during pregnancy or while breastfeeding. So there is no reason for them to leave out foods such as eggs or milk as a precaution.
A child's risk of developing eczema will mainly depend on the genes they have inherited. But other factors are thought to play a role too. Genes alone can't explain why eczema has become more common over the last few decades.
Some mothers wonder whether they can protect their child from eczema by avoiding certain foods while they are pregnant or breastfeeding. Antigens (substances that lead to allergies) can enter the child's body through the umbilical cord, or later in breast milk. But these antigens seem to only stay in the child's bloodstream for a short time.
To find out whether the diet of a pregnant or breastfeeding woman can influence her child's risk of eczema, comparative studies are needed. In this kind of study, some of the women avoid foods that might lead to eczema, and other women don't avoid those foods. The researchers can then see whether eczema is less common in the children of the women who avoided the foods.
