Managing eczema in infants could help reduce Australia’s high rate of food allergies, doctors say in a new campaign.

The Nip Allergies in the Bub project is aimed at educating parents and health professionals in ways to reduce allergy risk, including early introduction of allergenic foods to babies.

It follows the 2015 LEAP (Learning Early About Peanut) study, which found introducing peanut butter to babies around six months of age reduced the rate of allergy by 80%. 

Paediatric clinical immunologist and allergist Dr Richard Loh, co-chair of the National Allergy Strategy steering committee, says this figure is significant, considering Australia has one of the highest allergy rates in the world and there’s no cure.