Can Exposing Babies to Sunshine Help Prevent Eczema?
Allergies and eczema tend to be more prevalent at higher latitudes where there is less sunshine, leading to the theory that low levels of Vitamin D contribute to these conditions. Researchers from Australia designed a study to see whether giving young infants vitamin D would impact their development of allergies and eczema. In a well-designed double-blind clinical trial (the gold standard for medical research), they recruited 195 babies under the age of 28 days whose mom, dad or sibling had asthma, eczema, or allergic rhinitis (runny nose).
Half the babies received vitamin D, and half received identical looking capsules containing coconut and palm oil. Neither the parents nor their doctors knew which was which. Six months later, the results looked disappointing: there was no difference between the two groups in terms of the development of allergic disease or eczema.
But they also made an important discovery that was not related to supplementation. As an incidental part of the study, 82 of the babies were given a UV dosimeter – an instrument that measures how much sunlight they were exposed to. The babies only used the dosimeters for three months. At six months when the data was analysed, the researchers were surprised to find that the children with the highest sun exposure had significantly less eczema as well as lower levels of immune factors associated with allergic inflammation.
The authors summarize: “This study is the first to demonstrate an association between greater direct UV light exposures in early infancy with lower incidence of eczema and proinflammatory immune markers by 6 months of age. Our findings indicate that UV light exposure appears more beneficial than vitamin D supplementation as an allergy prevention strategy in early life.”
Because the focus of the study was not UV radiation, more research needs to be done to establish the optimal dose of sunlight to help lower the incidence of eczema. For families who already know that allergies and eczema are a possibility for their infant, early exposure to sunlight could help reduce the development of these conditions.
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