
Letter of Recommendation: Bamba - zabramow
http://nytimes.com/2015/10/25/magazine/letter-of-recommendation-bamba.html
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WalterBright
Evolution of parents:

1\. first kid - sterilize baby bottle nipples

2\. second kid - run nipples through the dishwasher

3\. third kid - rinse nipples under the faucet

4\. fourth kid - hold out nipples for dog to lick clean

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Jgrubb
First kid - "be careful he doesn't trip and fall"

Second kid - "Oh, he tripped and fell. are you ok?"

Third kid - (BAM CRASH Cry from upstairs) - "oh, he's fine. crying means he's
fine."

~~~
Jtsummers
"Crying means he's alive. I only worry when there's silence."

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megaman22
Yup, makes total sense. Let your kids eat a bug or two, play in the dirt,
sneeze on each other. Unless you are statistically unlucky, they'll be fine,
and they'll build up stronger immune systems, so they won't be as fragile
later on. Unless your child is Bubble Boy, there's no need for OCD antiseptic
cleanliness.

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megaman22
One comment on the article cites a recommendation that young children not
consume honey because it might possibly cause 90 cases of botulism a year. 90
cases out of several million is not really a significant thing to worry about.
Sucks if it happens, but it is really unlikely.

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darkerside
Just to set the record straight, part of the reason we have so few cases of
infant botulism each year is that pediatricians actively recommend against
feeding honey to kids under 1 year old. There aren't really any immunological
benefits to early honey, so it really is an unnecessary risk. Please don't
recommend people disregard medical advice that is there for good reasons.

[http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/botu...](http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/botulism.html)

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optionalparens
I am Israeli, lived in America for 1/2 my childhood. My nephew grew up
entirely in Israel, and has peanut allergies. Ironically in the context of
this article, we didn't find this out until he first had bamba and my sister
had to rush him to the hospital. There have been a number of his classmates
with the same allergy. Only going by his classmates from nursery school until
8th grade now, the stats don't look so great.

Obviously this is anecdotal, but like all things, nothing is 100%. I am not
sure what sample size or data was used in these studies, but in just my circle
the number of people with peanut allergies that are Israeli is decently large
compared to many other people I know. Unfortunately peanut allergies can be
pretty annoying, serious, and hard to deal with, so it ends up a big topic of
discussion a few times a year in our social circles.

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eshem
For those that have never had bamba, it truly is a peanut butter cheese doodle
that will melt in your mouth. That allows Israeli kids to eat them at a really
young age.

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littletimmy
Allergies are mostly a North American and European thing aren't they? I had
never heard of allergies until I came to the US from my slice of third world
hell.

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munificent
There is a hypothesis[1] that it's a developed, hygienic world thing.

[1]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygiene_hypothesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygiene_hypothesis)

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hammerzeit
I have a young child at home. He eats bamba, peanut butter, and a worrying
amount of New York City dirt.

That said, this is such a dangerous article, and I'm honestly surprised the
NYT published it. It's written by a non-scientist making a "common sense"
claim, and it even closes with a paragraph-long variation on the "how much can
we really trust science anyways?" claim.

My understanding is that there has been a single study, done among a largely
homogenous population, that has indicated Bamba's benefit. Maybe Bamba does
help inoculate against peanut allergies -- I think it's plausible, even
likely. But it's certainly not anything approaching scientific consensus, the
author is not a scientist of any variety, and I think this article has a real
danger to mislead.

~~~
dragonwriter
I don't think its particularly dangerous. While its less detailed and formal,
its not particularly out of line from common medical guidance on the issue.
[0] Certainly, major publications -- including the Times -- _frequently_ print
pop-health advice that is more at odds with medical science than this piece.

[0] E.g., this, from the American Academy of Pediatrics,
[https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-
issues/condit...](https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-
issues/conditions/allergies-asthma/Pages/Peanut-Allergies-What-You-Should-
Know-About-the-Latest-Research.aspx)

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joshguthrie
Surprised no one posted this: [https://xkcd.com/531/](https://xkcd.com/531/)

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samstave
What about Vietnamese kids -- who have lots of peanuts in their main diets.

What about US kids that eat a lots of PB&J?

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alexbilbie
If kids are already eating lots of nuts it's likely they're not going to be
allergic to that type of nut/legume (however they can be allergic to other
nuts in the same tree nut family).

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NickHaflinger
Is this the future of advertising, a whole 'article' dedicated to a peanut
butter coated roasted corn snack, Apple, Amazon, the Jackson Five, talk about
product placement. I would have really liked to read an article on the causes
of childhood allergies ...

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lukasm
I don't know anyone in Poland that have peanut allergies. Peanuts are only
used for a few cakes (walnut).

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Jtsummers
Hmm, so _walnuts_ are used, but not _peanuts_. From friends here with
allergies, they're specifically allergic to _peanuts_ and not nuts in general
(though they avoid most because they're often processed in the same
facilities). Depending on the severity of their allergy that avoidance will be
greater or lesser, a couple will eat brownies or cookies made with walnuts, or
a pecan pie, but won't eat from a can of mixed nuts even if it doesn't (by the
label) contain peanuts.

~~~
alexbilbie
Peanuts are legumes, and walnuts are tree nuts. People can be allergic to just
legumes, or just tree nuts or both.

Within the tree nut family, some people can be allergic to just certain types
such as cashew nuts because the proteins they're allergic differ to other tree
nuts.

~~~
Jtsummers
My first sentence was meant to be a question. OP seemed to be using peanuts as
a generic term for nuts and I wanted clarification.

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armandososa
Offtopic: Those mamba things sound delicious. I wish I could taste them in
Mexico.

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bambax
Never seen a French kid with a peanut allergy; they probably exist since most
processed foods now have warnings about possible allergens, but they must be
quite rare. In France "Nutella" is found in most homes; it's an Italian-made
(and quite unhealthy) thick mixture of chocolate paste and crushed peanuts.
Kids love it.

Also, this formulation is weird:

> _Nothing is more unnerving than exposing your child to danger for his
> benefit, be it germs, shots, strangers, allergens or gravity._

There are things that can kill young kids, they should be avoided at all costs
(of course!); these include: guns, swimming pools (being alone at a ~), and,
first and foremost, moving cars.

But the rest of the "dangers" are GOOD for kids: "germs" are good (let them
play in sandpits!), gravity (climbing trees or other structures) is good,
being able to talk to strangers IS VERY GOOD because almost all strangers are
not rapists and will not harm your kid in any way -- they may save her life!

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manachar
Nutella is generally made of hazelnuts here, is the stuff in France made of
peanuts?

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bambax
No, I don't think so; I mixed up peanuts and hazelnuts. Sorry about that.

