I don't have kids yet, but my children will probably be "At-Risk" as out of
6 first cousins on my dad's side of the family, 2 developed type 1 diabetes.
I would like to never introduce cereal to them, but I am afraid of the
consequences of not introducing it.  Namely, when they are older and defying
mom, they will probably eat some cereal grain based food.  I don't want to
have them have dire consequences from never introducing it to them.

Opinions?

> Hey, here's an idea - never introduce cereal AT ALL!
>
> Dori Zook
> Denver, CO
>
> Age of Introducing Cereal to At-Risk Infants Impacts Diabetes Risk
>
> (DENVER) Sept. 29, 2003 - Researchers at the
> University of Colorado Health Sciences Center have
> found that age matters when introducing cereal to the
> diet of an infant at risk for diabetes. Appearing in
> the Oct. 1 issue of The Journal of the American
> Medical Association, the study showed that while
> cereal introduction before four months of age
> increased the risk for diabetes autoimmunity, a
> pre-cursor to type 1 diabetes, children who were not
> exposed until after six months of age were also more
> likely to develop diabetes autoimmunity.
>
> Type 1 diabetes develops when the body's immune system
> mistakenly targets the pancreas, killing the cells
> that make insulin. Children who have an immediate
> relative with type 1 diabetes or who have specific
> genetic susceptibility markers are considered at risk
> for the disease.
>
> For this study, 1,183 children at risk for type 1
> diabetes were followed from birth for an average of
> four years. Parents were surveyed once every three
> months to log what kinds of foods and amounts were
> being introduced and at what age. Children were tested
> for specific antibodies in the blood that marked the
> destruction of the cells that make insulin.
>
> Of the children followed, those who were given cereal
> before four months of age were four times as likely to
> develop diabetes autoimmunity than those first given
> cereal between four and six months. In addition,
> children who were not given cereal until after six
> months of age were five times as likely to develop
> diabetes autoimmunity, as children introduced to
> cereal between four and six months of age.
>
> The team, which included researchers from CU's
> Department of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics and
> the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, could
> only hypothesize why there may be a window for initial
> cereal exposure in those susceptible to diabetes.
>
> "What happens in the first year of life has a large
> impact on the development of children and their immune
> systems," said Dr. Jill Norris, lead author of the
> study and an associate professor of Preventive
> Medicine and Biometrics at the CU-Health Sciences
> Center. "At a very young age, an infant's system may
> not be ready for the new food. However, when foods are
> introduced at a much older age the larger portions
> given to older babies at that time may be too much for
> their systems to handle."
>
> The study findings support the current American
> Academy of Pediatrics recommended guidelines of
> introducing solid food between the ages of four to six
> months. The team found no difference in the risk
> depending on the type of cereal introduced - rice, or
> gluten-containing cereals such as wheat, oat, barley
> and rye.
>
> The findings came from a National Institutes of
> Health-funded study called DAISY, for Diabetes
> Autoimmunity Study in the Young. DAISY became the
> focus of international attention in 1996, when the
> team found there was no increased risk to children
> from early consumption of cow's milk as had been
> reported in Europe.
>
> "We will soon begin an international study modeled
> after DAISY that will allow us to understand what
> cultural, dietary and environmental factors may be at
> work to cause international inconsistencies in these
> research findings," said Dr. Marian Rewers, clinical
> director of the Barbara Davis Center and the lead
> investigator for DAISY.
>
> Other researchers on the DAISY cereal study team
> include: Katherine Barriga, MSPH; Georgeanna
> Klingensmith, MD; Michelle Hoffman, RN; George S.
> Eisenbarth, MD, PhD; and Henry A. Erlich, MD, PhD.
> The University of Colorado Health Sciences Center is
> one of four campuses in the University of Colorado
> system. Located in Denver and Aurora, Colo., the
> center includes schools of medicine, nursing,
> pharmacy, and dentistry, a graduate school and a
> teaching hospital. For more information, visit the Web
> site at www.uchsc.edu.
>
> The Barbara Davis Center is the largest center
> dedicated to Type 1 diabetes in the U.S., caring for
> more than 5,000 children and young adults with the
> disease from all over the world.
>
> ###
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Add MSN 8 Internet Software to your existing Internet access and enjoy
> patented spam protection and more.  Sign up now!
> http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/byoa
>
>