Childhood obesity can contribute to the development of common immune-mediated skin diseases (IMSDs), such as alopecia areata, atopic dermatitis, and psoriasis, new research finds.
Maintaining a healthy weight could potentially help lower the chances of developing these skin conditions, the researchers suggest.
The study, which appears in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, comprises an analysis of 2,161,900 Korean children followed from 2009 to 2020.
Children who were obese were more likely to develop common IMSDs compared to children with a normal weight. Among the three most common IMSDs, atopic dermatitis demonstrated the most obvious trend; children who gained weight (normal to overweight) had a higher risk of developing atopic dermatitis than children who maintained their normal weight, and children who lost weight (overweight to normal) had a lower risk of developing atopic dermatitis than children who maintained their overweight status.
The precise mechanisms responsible for the involvement of obesity in the development of chronic inflammatory skin diseases, including psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and skin malignancies, remains uncertain.
“We think that various factors, including diet, obesity, or other lifestyles can affect gut environment and contribute to the development of IMSDs,“ says co-lead investigator Hyunsun Park, MD, PhD, a dermatologist at Seoul National University College of Medicine and Seoul Metropolitan Government-Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center in Seoul, Republic of Korea, in a news release. “We are trying to find the puzzle pieces to demonstrate how they are connected, and our current research is a step towards that understanding.”
Co-lead investigator Seong-Joon Koh, MD, PhD, an Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and Liver Research Institute at Seoul National University College of Medicine; and Laboratory of Intestinal Mucosa and Skin Immunology, concludes, “Our findings support the importance of promoting weight maintenance among children who are already within the normal weight range because it may help reduce the risk of developing atopic dermatitis. In addition, prevention of excessive weight gain and purposeful weight loss, including adopting healthy diet strategies in children with obesity to prevent atopic dermatitis, particularly before school age, should be promoted. Implementing purposeful interventions, including nutritional strategies, to decrease body weight may aid in reducing the risk of developing IMSDs in children.”
