Fact checked byKristen Dowd

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March 31, 2024
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Children with atopic dermatitis may experience growth hinderance

Fact checked byKristen Dowd
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Key takeaways:

  • 38% of boys and 52% of girls aged younger than 12 years with atopic dermatitis were above the 50th height percentile.
  • On the other hand, 50% of boys and 51% of girls were above the 50th weight percentile.

SAN DIEGO — Researchers found that children with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis have a higher mean weight and BMI, but a lower mean height, than healthy children, according to a poster presented here.

“AD has the potential to impact children’s growth through multiple mechanisms, including chronic sleep disturbance caused by itching and the effects of certain AD medications, particularly corticosteroids and immunosuppressants,” Amy S. Paller, MD, Walter J. Hamlin Professor and chair of dermatology at Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, director of the skin biology and diseases resource-based center at Northwestern University and professor of pediatrics and dermatology at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, and colleagues wrote in their poster, which won first place at the American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting.

Dermatitis child
Researchers found that children with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis have a higher mean weight and BMI, but a lower mean height, than healthy children. Image: Adobe Stock.

To learn more about this possibility, the researchers conducted an international, 10-year observational study, PEDISTAD, to analyze the height, weight and BMI of children with AD vs. the general healthy population.

Amy S. Paller

The study, which is still ongoing, included 1,329 children (mean age, 5.98 years; 53.2% boys; 59% white) with moderate to severe AD that is inadequately controlled by topical therapies and are candidates to receive systemic medications.

Results showed that children with AD have a higher mean weight and BMI than healthy children, but a lower mean height.

While 50% of boys with AD aged younger than 12 years were above the 50th percentile for weight, only 38% were above for height. Among girls with AD in the same age group, 51% and 52% were above the 50th percentiles for weight and height, respectively.

Among patients aged 5 to 12 years specifically, only 28% of boys and 47% of girls with AD were above the 50th percentile for height. For weight, 56% and 52%, respectively, were above the 50th percentile.

BMI results showed that 69% of boys and 71% of girls with AD were above the 50th percentile in children aged younger than 12 years, whereas in the 5- to 12-year age group, 70% of both boys and girls were above the 50th percentile in BMI.

Overall, the average percentiles across all ages for height, weight and BMI were 46th, 51st and 58th for boys with AD and 50th, 50th and 59th for girls with AD.

“Moderate to severe AD may hinder growth in children [younger than] 12 years, possibly due to factors like sleep deprivation, prolonged use of topical or systemic glucocorticoids and immunosuppressant,” the researchers wrote. “Early intervention with effective targeted therapies may mitigate the negative impact on growth.”