Preventing Food Allergies in Children: Local Nutritionist Malina Malkani is on a Mission

In early 2023, pediatric nutritionist, author, and Rye mom of three, Malina Malkani, reached out to the eponymous Facebook group while deep into the recipe-development phase of her book.

October 11, 2024
4 min read
Malina Malkani in her kitchen
Photo Alison Rodilosso

Who are you going to call when you need recipe testers for your new book on preventing food allergies in children? Rye moms, of course.

In early 2023, pediatric nutritionist, author, and Rye mom of three, Malina Malkani, reached out to the eponymous Facebook group. She was deep into the recipe-development phase of her book “Safe and Simple Food Allergy Prevention: A Baby-Led Feeding Guide to Starting Solids & Introducing Top Allergens.”

The book’s recipes all had one thing in common: They contained known food allergens that, when consumed regularly at a young age, were proven to prevent food allergies in kids.

“So many Rye moms rose to the challenge and gave me priceless feedback which helped make the recipes more family-friendly, balanced, and streamlined,” said Malkani, who came face-to-face with feeding challenges and hard-to-diagnose food allergies when her own daughters were babies.

Even though she was already a registered dietician nutritionist, having earned her master’s degree in clinical nutrition at New York University in 2009, she was frustrated by the dearth of helpful resources around infant feeding difficulties. She emerged from those stressful years determined to provide new parents with the support they need during what can be a stressful and exhausting time.

Malkani is known to many in Rye as the soloist at Rye’s Christ’s Church. She sings regularly on Sundays as well as at funerals, weddings, and holiday events. Before her career as a pediatric nutritionist, she spent 10 years performing off-Broadway and throughout the U.S. in national tours, regional theaters, and light opera companies.

Her experience and ease in front of an audience have led Malkani to become a nationally recognized speaker and educator on pediatric nutrition. She dispenses feeding expertise on television (most recently Good Morning America), radio and podcasts, and at conferences, with the aim of helping parents feed their little ones with confidence.

Childhood food allergies rank high on the list of a parent’s worst nightmare. Having a kid who is allergic can be fraught with the fear of a life-threatening reaction along with the constant maneuvering to avoid exposure to that dreaded peanut or shellfish.

Malina Malkani
Before her career as a pediatric nutritionist, Malkani spent 10 years performing off-Broadway and throughout the U.S.

That’s why Malkani is on a mission to help parents stop food allergies before they start.

“I was inspired to create a single, one-stop feeding resource that would include everything caregivers need to start solids, prevent food allergies, avoid unnecessary stress, feed with confidence, and grow adventurous, happy eaters using a baby-led approach,” she said.

Malkani recommends introducing food allergens “early, often, and consistently” starting at six months of age or as early as four months, if a baby is already exhibiting signs of allergies, like severe eczema. Her evidence-backed advice runs counter to past and now debunked guidelines that parents wait until after age one, or even two or three, to feed their babies top allergens like eggs, dairy, and nuts.

The science behind introducing babies to the top nine allergenic foods early is based on the LEAP study — Learning Early About Peanut Allergy, sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The decade-long study determined that regularly feeding peanut products to high-risk infants starting between four to six months through age five reduces the risk of peanut allergy by a whopping 86 percent.

The study also discovered that the time span for introducing these allergens is fleeting. “For peanut, that window is between four to six months,” said Malkani. “With every increasing month of age past six months, the potential protective effect of early intro is reduced, in some cases by as much as 30 percent per month.”

Malkani points out that although any food can cause an allergic reaction, just nine cause more than 90 percent of food allergies: peanuts, eggs, cow’s milk, fish, tree nuts, wheat, soy, shellfish, and sesame.

Her book serves up support and flexibility when it comes to starting babies on solid food. She details baby-led feeding, which entails “offering appropriately sized and textured finger foods from the family table for self-feeding.” And she offers a “9-Day Allergen Introduction Plan” along with preparation and feeding tips, depending on a child’s food readiness.

“That’s what I wish I had had when my girls were babies,” said the 49-year-old single mom, whose children are now 15, 13, and 11. “When it comes to something as important as starting solids and preventing food allergies, it can be comforting if someone you trust takes the reins and just does all of the thinking and planning for you.”

Allergen Pancakes
Malkani offers a “9-Day Allergen Introduction Plan” along with preparation and feeding tips, depending on a child’s food readiness.

She also offers a healthy spoonful of reassurance to parents who are understandably anxious about feeding little ones potential allergens. “I hope it’s comforting for parents to hear that severe allergic reactions in infants are extremely rare,” she said. “For babies who are going to react, reactions are usually mild.”

In creating the book’s 80 dishes, which Malkani photographed in her Rye backyard, her intent was two-fold: what’s eaten at the highchair is also being served at the family table.

“As a mom of three, it was important to me to create a collection of recipes that accomplish multiple goals at the same time — building allergens in the baby’s diet regularly while feeding the rest of the family too, because making more than one meal at a time is a recipe for burn-out,” she said.

Malkani is quick to point out that while food allergy prevention is effective, it is not a guarantee. Even so, the opportunity to possibly reverse the course of a lifetime of food allergies for their children can be music to parents’ ears.

“Safe and Simple Food Allergy Prevention” by Malina Malkani is available for pre-order at foodallergypreventionbook.com. She will be talking about the book at Athena books in Greenwich, Conn., on Nov. 14 and the Rye Free Reading Room on Dec. 3 at 6:30 p.m.

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