Early weaning as a cause of cow's milk protein allergy: a review

Abstract

During the first months of life, breast milk is the main nutritional and immunological source, favoring the physical and cognitive development of the newborn (NB) (BRASIL, 2015). Early weaning consists of the interruption and insertion of other foods into the child's diet before 6 months. Even though it is beneficial, exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is still a distant reality in many families. Given this, weaning can generate consequences for the baby, one of them being food allergies, which are immune-mediated reactions, generating inflammatory clinical responses, triggered by the intake of certain foods (BURNS et al., 2017). Cow's milk protein allergy (CMPA) is the most common and early food allergy of childhood, especially in children under 3 years of age (ZEPEDA-ORTEGA et al., 2021), due to milk proteins being the first food antigens introduced into the diet of newborns.