Nutrient Intake and Food Restriction in Children with Atopic Dermatitis

This study was performed to investigate the status of food restriction and the list of restricted foods in children with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis (AD), and to find out the effect of food restriction on the changes in nutrient intake and the severity of the disease. Sixty two patient children aged 12 months to 13 years presenting AD with a SCORing of Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) index between 20 and 50 were enrolled. The presence of food limitation, and list of restricted foods were surveyed through the caretakers and the patients were divided into 3 groups by the number of restricted food: non-restricted group, one to three restricted group, and more than three restricted group. Dietary intake was assessed for 3 months using a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Half of the subjects restricted foods. The restriction was higher in the order of soda, food additives, walnut, peanut, and other nuts as a single food item; and shellfish and crustacean group, processed foods, nuts, milk & dairy products, and meats as a food group. More than three restricted group ingested more fruits and less fish and meats, resulting in high consumption of vitamin C (p = 0.027). No significant difference in the ratio of nutrient intake by the number of restricted foods was observed in other nutrients. Significant improvement of AD symptom was observed in non-restricted group (p = 0.036) and one to three restricted group (p = 0.003). It is necessary to provide proper nutrition information and systematic and continuous nutrition management for balanced nutrient intake and disease improvement in children with AD.

A Study on the Stress and the Dietary Habits of Elementary School Children by Mother's Employment Status / 대한지역사회영양학회지

The purpose of this study is to determine the stress and the dietary habits of elementary school children and assess the associations with mother's employment status. The subjects were 423 students of 5th and 6th grade students (210 boys and 213 girls) in Seoul and Gyeonggi-Do. Two hundred fifty-two mothers had some kinds of job and 171 mothers were housewives. The students had stress the most from their studies/schoolwork (M = 2.37), while the least from "teacher/school" (M=1.51). The average stress score of the subjects was 1.76. The average score of dietary habits was 3.43. More specifically, the statement "not skipping breakfast" had the highest score (M = 4.04) and the statement "not substituting cereals, breads or drink milk for any meal" had the lowest score. Students with employed mothers had higher stress level than students with unemployed mothers. Students with employed mothers who have blue color job showed the lower dietary habits score than those with employed mothers who had other types of job. Students of employed mothers who go to school at dawn showed the lowest dietary habits score. In both employed and unemployed mothers, the stress score of students negatively correlated with the score of dietary habits. It was important for the mother to be at home when the students go to school and return. Based on this study, mothers should be aware of the stress level of their children get depending on their employment status. They should also provide their children to have good dietary habits and nutritional education regularly.