Are ‘Elimination Diets’ Much Help Against Child Eczema?

Cutting certain foods from a child’s diet isn’t likely to improve their eczema symptoms, a new study finds.

Eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, results from an overactive immune response and has been linked to an increased risk of food allergies, researchers said.

Because of this, some parents try to manage their kids’ itchy, rashy skin through an elimination diet.

But elimination diets only mildly improved eczema lesions in about a third of participants in a new study presented Thursday at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, in Boston.

“Elimination diets aren’t recommended as a treatment for [atopic dermatitis], according to guidelines from major allergy organizations,” said lead researcher Dr. Nadia Makkoukdji, a pediatric allergist with Jackson Health System in Miami.

For the study, researchers surveyed nearly 300 South Florida parents of children with eczema regarding diet and skin health.

About 42% of parents reported that certain foods make their kids’ eczema worse. The most frequent offenders were milk (32%), nuts and seeds (16%) and eggs (11%).

Nearly a quarter (23%) of those who identified a food trigger completely removed the suspected food from their child’s diet.

Of those, 38% observed no improvement in their child’s eczema, while another 35% reported mild improvement, researchers found. Only 9% said that removing the food cleared up their kid’s eczema.

Further, about 4 of 5 parents (79%) subsequently reintroduced the suspect foods without a child’s eczema recurring.

“Despite elimination diets, only one-third of respondents saw [even a] mild improvement in AD lesions,” the research team concluded in an ACAAI news release. “Larger studies are needed to confirm these findings and further explore diet’s role in AD.”

Because these findings were presented at a medical meeting, they should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The National Eczema Association has more on what causes eczema.

SOURCE: American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, news release, Oct. 24, 2024

Source: HealthDay