Development of atopic dermatitis according to age of onset and association with early-life exposures

Background: Environmental factors can affect the development of atopic dermatitis, and this was described to be already effective during pregnancy and in early life. An important early postnatal exposure is nutrition, although its association with allergic disease remains unclear.

Objective: We sought to determine prospectively whether early postnatal exposures, such as the introduction to complementary food in the first year of life, are associated with the development of atopic dermatitis, taking into account the reverse causality.

Methods: One thousand forty-one children who participated in the Protection Against Allergy-Study in Rural Environments birth cohort study were included in the current study. Atopic dermatitis was defined by a doctor's diagnosis reported by the parents of children up to 4 years of age, by questionnaires, and/or by positive SCORAD scores from 1 year of age and according to the age of onset within or after the first year of life. Feeding practices were reported by parents in monthly diaries between the 3rd and 12th months of life.

Results: The diversity of introduction of complementary food in the first year of life was associated with a reduction in the risk of having atopic dermatitis with onset after the first year of life (adjusted odds ratio for atopic dermatitis with each additional major food item introduced, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.65-0.88). The introduction of yogurt in the first year of life also reduced the risk for atopic dermatitis (adjusted odds ratio, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.23-0.73).

Conclusion: As early-life exposure, the introduction of yogurt and the diversity of food introduced in the first year of life might have a protective effect against atopic dermatitis.