Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Apr;34(4):e13949.
doi: 10.1111/pai.13949.

Association of soap use when bathing 18-month-old infants with the prevalence of allergic diseases at age 3 years: The Japan Environment and Children's Study

Taisuke Kato  1 , Yuichi Adachi  1 , Akiko Tsuchida  2 , Kenta Matsumura  2 , Shokei Murakami  1 , Muneyuki Shimizu  1 , Takuya Wada  1 , Hisao Okabe  3 , Koichi Hashimoto  3   4 , Mitsuaki Hosoya  3   4 , Hidekuni Inadera  2 ; Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS) Group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Association of soap use when bathing 18-month-old infants with the prevalence of allergic diseases at age 3 years: The Japan Environment and Children's Study

Taisuke Kato et al. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2023 Apr.

Erratum in

Abstract

Background: Atopic march is defined as the progression from atopic dermatitis (AD) during early life to other allergic diseases in later childhood. In a nationwide birth cohort study, the Japan Environment and Children's Study, we investigated the association of bathing habits, which are known to affect skin conditions, for infants with their later development of allergic diseases.

Methods: Pregnant women who lived in 15 designated regional centers throughout Japan were recruited. We obtained information on bathing habits for their 18-month-old infants and the prevalence of allergic diseases when they were aged 3 years.

Results: Data for 74,349 children were analyzed. Most 18-month-old infants were bathed or showered almost every day. When they were divided into four groups according to the frequency of soap use during bathing (every time, most of the time, sometimes, and seldom), the risk of AD later at age 3 was shown to increase in association with a decreasing frequency of soap use [most of the time: adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.18, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.05-1.34; sometimes: aOR 1.72, 95% CI 1.46-2.03; seldom: aOR 1.99, 95% CI 1.58-2.50], compared with soap use every time during bathing at 18 months of age. Similar results were obtained for food allergy but not for bronchial asthma.

Conclusions: Frequent soap use when bathing 18-month-old infants was associated with a decreased risk of them developing allergic diseases at age 3. Further well-designed clinical studies are warranted to determine an effective bathing regimen for preventing the development of allergic diseases.

Keywords: atopic dermatitis; baths; birth cohort; bronchial asthma; food allergy; soap.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Matsumoto K, Iikura K, Morita H, Saito H. Barrier dysfunction in the atopic march-how does atopic dermatitis lead to asthma in children? J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2020;145(6):1551-1553.
    1. Luger T, Amagai M, Dreno B, et al. Atopic dermatitis: role of the skin barrier, environment, microbiome, and therapeutic agents. J Dermatol Sci. 2021;102(3):142-157.
    1. Horimukai K, Morita K, Narita M, et al. Transepidermal water loss measurement during infancy can predict the subsequent development of atopic dermatitis regardless of filaggrin mutations. Allergol Int. 2016;65(1):103-108.
    1. Davidson WF, Leung DYM, Beck LA, et al. Report from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases workshop on "atopic dermatitis and the atopic march: mechanisms and interventions". J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2019;143(3):894-913.
    1. Osawa R, Akiyama M, Shimizu H. Filaggrin gene defects and the risk of developing allergic disorders. Allergol Int. 2011;60(1):1-9.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources