The Nip allergies in the Bub Food Follower App is an online app to help parents and carers put food allergy prevention advice into practice.
In Australia, one in 10 babies have a confirmed food allergy. Allergic disease affects more than 8 million Australians and continues to place significant challenges on individuals, families and the healthcare system.
Research shows that introducing foods such as peanut and well-cooked egg soon after a baby has started eating solid foods, can help reduce the chance of them developing a food allergy to these foods. The recently updated ASCIA infant feeding for food allergy prevention guideline reinforces the importance of introducing these foods early and, if tolerated, continuing to include them in a child’s diet at least once a week.
Dr Sandra Vale, National Allergy Council CEO, said while awareness has improved, many parents are still unsure how to put that advice into practice.
"Parents are hearing that introducing common allergy causing foods like egg and peanut matters, but many are unsure of when and how to do this or what to do next. The Food Follower App turns that evidence into something practical, helping parents introduce the common allergy causing foods and continue offering them regularly," Dr Vale said.
About the Nip allergies in the Bub Food Follower App
Launched today, the new online Food Follower App forms part of the Nip allergies in the Bub program.
The Food Follower App was developed by the National Allergy Council, a partnership between the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) and Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia, and funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.
The online app was developed following consultations with parents and healthcare professionals through focus groups and feedback via the Nip allergies in the Bub website, which already reaches more than 160,000 parents and healthcare professionals each year.
The free app provides:
Tips, practical food ideas and recipes to help introduce the common allergy causing foods in age-appropriate forms.
Tracking tools to monitor which common allergy causing foods have been introduced.
Reminders to keep offering the common allergy causing foods once introduced.
The ability to personalise the app based on a baby's age and family eating habits, and allows families to log feeding progress, including notes on reactions.
The option to share the app with partners, carers and health professionals, helping maintain consistency across different care settings.
Parents and carers with the confidence that they are following the latest evidence-based information.
