Expecting? Eating Avocados Might Protect Your Baby from Food Allergies, Study Suggests - Video

A new study has found that infants had 44% lower odds of developing food allergies at 12 months if their mother consumed fresh avocado during pregnancy, after adjusting for other lifestyle, delivery, and maternal health factors. Findings are published in pediatric research.

Researchers analyzed data collected from 2013 to 2022 as part of the Kuopio Birth Cohort (KuBiCo). Avocado intake was assessed using an online food frequency questionnaire during the first and third trimesters. Participants who reported eating any avocado (>0 grams) in either trimester were defined as avocado consumers, and non-consumers were those who did not report consuming any avocado in either trimester.

Infant allergic outcomes, including rhinitis, paroxysmal wheezing, eczema, and food allergy, were evaluated at 12-months of age. After adjusting for factors such as maternal and gestational age at delivery, education, diet quality, smoking, alcohol consumption, BMI in the first trimester, and breastfeeding, food allergy was found to be significantly higher in infants of non-avocado consumers (4.2%) versus avocado consumers (2.4%). No associations were found for other allergic conditions when all other factors were considered.

Mothers who consumed avocado during pregnancy tended to be older at delivery, be less likely to undergo a caesarean delivery, be a non-smoker, breastfeed for a longer duration, have higher diet quality scores, and have lower BMI levels in the first trimester.

Findings from this study cannot be generalized more research is needed to understand the exact mechanism.

Reference: Cheng, F.W., Bauer, E., Ford, N.A. et al. Avocado consumption during pregnancy linked to lower child food allergy risk: prospective KuBiCo study. Pediatr Res (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-025-03968-4