Childhood Obesity, Weight Change, and Pediatric Immune-Mediated Skin Diseases
Clinical Summary
View sourceWhat was studied
A longitudinal cohort of 2,161,900 Korean children (2009–2020) evaluated whether BMI level and BMI changes were associated with incident alopecia areata, atopic dermatitis (AD), and psoriasis.
Key findings
Childhood obesity was linked to higher risk of immune‑mediated skin disease vs normal weight (P for trend < .01). Moving from normal to overweight increased AD risk vs staying normal (adjusted HR 1.15, 95% CI 1.11–1.20), while moving from overweight to normal lowered AD risk vs staying overweight (adjusted HR 0.87, 95% CI 0.81–0.94); increasing BMI raised AD risk and decreasing BMI reduced it.
Study limitations
The abstract reports no absolute event counts or details on outcome ascertainment. Numeric effect estimates are provided only for AD weight‑change comparisons; alopecia areata and psoriasis lack specific estimates.
Clinical implications
In children, higher BMI and weight gain are associated with greater AD risk, while weight loss from overweight to normal weight is associated with lower risk. Counsel families that weight management may influence AD risk, noting these are associations rather than proof of causation.
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