Effect of elimination diet on quality of life and eating behavior in children with severe atopic dermatitis and food allergies

Relevance of topic. The course of atopic dermatitis complicated by food allergies, as well as the use of an elimination diet, can significantly worsen patient’s quality of life and affect his eating behavior.

Aim of the study was to assess indicators of the quality of life and eating behavior in children with severe atopic dermatitis and food allergies.

Methods. This study included children of age 4–13 years 11 months, hospitalized in Dermatology with the Laser Surgery department in the National Medical Research Center of Children’s Health from September 2021 to May 2022. Anthropometric indices, the index of the influence of atopic dermatitis on the quality of life, eating behavior parameters, bioimpedance analysis of body composition and analysis of the chemical composition of the diet were assessed in all children.

Results. A total of 92 children were included in the study. The course of atopic dermatitis had a very strong and strong impact on the quality of life – in 25.6 % and 39.0 % of children, respectively. Itching in 83.6 % of children and sleep disturbance in 86.6 % of children had the greatest impact on the quality of life. When assessing the eating behavior, there was an increase in the indicators of «emotional undereating», «slowness in eating» and «desire to drink» and a decrease in the «enjoyment of food». When analyzing anthropometric indicators, a correlation was established between BAZ, an indicator of quality of life (r= –0.44, p=0.01) and the indicator «enjoyment of food» (r=0.19, p=0.01). A positive correlation was also found between the quality of life index, disease duration (r=0.57, p=0.01) and the number of food groups excluded from the diet (r=0.51, p=0.03). A negative correlation was found between the indicators of quality of life, «food responsiveness» (r= –0.49, p=0.04) and «enjoyment of food» (r= –0.57, p=0.01).

Conclusions. Elimination diet has a significant impact on the quality of life and eating behavior of children with severe atopic dermatitis and food allergies. This suggests that the diet must be strictly justified both in terms of the set of excluded foods and in terms of its duration.

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