Mission MightyMe Provides Solutions to New USDA, HHS Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025, Addressing Infant Health and Food Allergy Prevention for the First Time
Supported by the LEAP Study, led by Pediatric Allergist and Mission MightyMe Co-founder Dr. Gideon Lack, and serving as a cornerstone for federal nutrition policy for the next five years, the just-announced report recommends introducing peanut foods in the first year of life to reduce the risk that an infant will develop a peanut allergy; something MightyMe's line of baby-friendly foods helps parents achieve in a safe and enjoyable way
ATLANTA, Dec. 30, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- As the rest of the Country digests how the new United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Health and Human Services (HHS) Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-20205 will impact their children's schools, favorite restaurants and family dinner tables for the next five years, Mission MightyMe (https://missionmightyme.com), the children's food brand on a mission to prevent food allergies with early introduction, is looking ahead to a bright future of fewer childhood food allergies, allowing kids to just be kids.
For more than a century, the Federal government has provided dietary guidance, published every five years, on what to eat and drink for better health, informing the development of Federal food, nutrition and health policies and programs. With advances in nutrition science over the years, the areas of focus have expanded to address modern-day health concerns and chronic disease prevention.
For the first time, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans provide recommendations around infant health, including food allergy prevention, recommending that potentially allergenic foods (e.g., peanuts, egg, cow milk products, tree nuts, wheat, crustacean shellfish, fish, and soy) be introduced along with other complementary foods around 6 months.
The report also specifically encourages peanut introduction in the first year of life to reduce the risk of peanut allergy — joining the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and many other organizations now recommending early peanut introduction, based on the groundbreaking 2015 LEAP (Learning Early About Peanut Allergy) Study, a five-year randomized controlled trial led by Mission MightyMe Co-Founder, Dr. Gideon Lack.
The LEAP Study found that more than 80 percent of peanut allergies could be prevented by including peanut protein in infant diets, starting as early as 4-11 months and regularly until age 5.
"The LEAP Study proved there's a critical window in the first year of life when most babies' immune systems can learn to tolerate peanut protein and prevent a food allergy from ever developing, if peanut is introduced early in infancy and remains a regular part of the child's diet," said Dr. Lack. "The old guidance that advised parents to avoid feeding peanuts to their babies until age three may have inadvertently made the rates of peanut allergy worse."
Indeed, the rate of nut allergies has tripled and food allergies have increased by more than 50 percent among children, since health guidelines issued in the year 2000 recommended avoiding nuts and other potential food allergens in infancy.
Those guidelines have now been overturned, but having followed the old avoidance recommendations with their first child, Catherine and JJ Jaxon, Co-founders and Co-CEO's of MightyMe, discovered their daughter had developed a severe nut allergy by age three. When their third child was born in 2015, learning of Dr. Lack's LEAP Study gave them hope that they could prevent another food allergy in their family with early introduction and regular feeding of peanut foods.
"Following Dr. Lack's research, we made the decision to do early introduction with our infant son, in hopes of preventing him from developing a food allergy like his older sister. But nuts and nut butters are a choking hazard for a baby, and the entire baby food industry is allergen-free," said JJ Jaxon. "The products we needed didn't exist, so we partnered with Dr. Lack to develop safe, delicious, clean-ingredient foods for infants that make it easy and enjoyable to follow the clinically-proven guidelines for including peanut in babies' diets, early and often."
The brand's first product, MightyMe Proactive Peanut Puffs, are quick-dissolve puffs made with simple, organic, non-GMO ingredients. Each pouch contains the precise weekly amount of peanut protein used in the LEAP Study and recommended by The AAP.
"With the LEAP Study, The AAP, NIH, and many other health organizations already validating the benefits of including peanut foods in infant diets, the release of the USDA, HHS Dietary Guidelines for Americans gives parents another strong vote of confidence that preventative measures against peanut allergies have not only been scientifically proven, but can be carried out safely, and we that should no longer be withholding allergenic foods," said Catherine Jaxon. "As the parents of a child with food allergies ourselves, we want to provide a safe, simple and enjoyable way for parents to take control of their children's health and avoid the burden of food allergies for their families."
Along with the company's social networks, The Learning Center at MissionMightyMe.com provides updates and tools on the latest news, studies and clinical guidelines on food-allergy prevention.
MightyMe's Proactive Peanut Puffs were developed to age up with children as they grow, since the LEAP Study showed the importance of regularly feeding peanut foods for at least the first 5 years of life. The puffs dissolve quickly for babies and taste delicious for big kids, making them both a safe way to include peanut in infant diets, and a nutritious, clean-label snack for the whole family.
They are sold in a box of five stand-up resealable pouches, for $4.99 per 1.5 oz pouch or $4.49 per pouch with subscription. Customers can purchase the puffs directly at missionmightyme.com and on Amazon.
In the coming year, customers can expect to see more innovation from MightyMe, beginning with the launch ofProactive Multi-Nut Puffs, containing a collection of tree nuts, and more products containing other common food allergens, in the future.
Learn more by visiting http://www.missionmightyme.com
About Mission MightyMe
On a mission to end the food allergy epidemic, Mission MightyMe is a revolutionary food company founded by passionate parents of children with food allergies and world-renowned pediatric allergist Dr. Gideon Lack.
Lack's groundbreaking LEAP (Learning Early About Peanut Allergy) Study, which found that including peanut protein in babies' diets early and often could help prevent peanut allergies, has changed pediatric feeding guidelines around the globe.
Together with Lack, the Mission MightyMe team has launched a line of foods that make it deliciously simple for parents to follow new pediatric recommendations for including peanuts and other common food allergens in infant diets. Mission MightyMe also gives back by supporting food allergy prevention research and education.
Learn more by visiting http://www.missionmightyme.com
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Media Contact
Catherine Jaxon, Mission MightyMe, +1 (917) 701-4091, [email protected]
SOURCE Mission MightyMe
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