Prevention of Food Allergy: Harmonizing Perspectives from the East and West

Professor Agnes Leung highlights how cultural, environmental, and dietary factors shape food allergy prevention, combining insights from Eastern and Western perspectives. She notes differences in prevalence, allergen profiles, and anaphylaxis trends, with peanuts and tree nuts noted to be more common in the West, while shellfish and certain local foods predominate in Asia. She discusses both the LEAP and EAT studies, which show that early introduction of allergenic foods, particularly in high-risk infants, can significantly lower allergy risk. She emphasizes the need to tailor prevention strategies to local diets, allergen patterns, and cultural practices, and to update recommendations as new evidence emerges.​