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There's new research to back up the findings that feeding peanut products to a baby can help avoid the risk of nut allergy.

The study was carried out by researchers from the Guys and St Thomas' Hospital Trust, the University of Southampton, and the University of California and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study was based on 550 children who completed a trial where they were given either a peanut snack or told to avoid peanut products. During follow-up, all of the children were asked to avoid peanuts for a year.

It was found that children who avoided peanuts as part of the trial were more likely to have a peanut allergy at six years old (18.6%) than the children who ate the peanut snack (4.8%), the National Public Radio reported.

The proportion of children in the peanut snack group who developed a peanut allergy was similar when they completed the trial (3.6% at age five) and a year later (4.8% at age six), suggesting that the protection created from their exposure to peanuts was maintained, even after peanut products were avoided for a year.

Lead researcher Prof Gideon Lack told the BBC News that it was exciting to us to realise for the first time that they truly prevent the development of allergy.

"Giving peanuts very early on actually protected them from developing a peanut allergy," says Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

However, the study did not establish how long the effects last. Children who already have another allergy, such as eczema, or have a history of allergy in their immediate family, are at greater risk of developing a peanut allergy.

Food allergies, such as allergies to nuts, nut products and some seeds, affect 1-2% of people.

For other children, foods containing peanuts should not be introduced before they are six months old. After this time, foods that could trigger an allergy should be introduced one at a time so a reaction can be spotted.

This was a follow-up study of a randomised controlled trial testing the effect of giving products containing peanuts to children who are at a high risk of allergy in early life.