National Eczema Week

Citation

(2008), "National Eczema Week", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 38 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.2008.01738fab.009

National Eczema Week

Article Type: Food facts June 2008 From: Nutrition & Food Science, Volume 38, Issue 6.

National Eczema Week, which this year was held from 13-20 September. Organised by the National Eczema Society, the pyjama campaign aims to raise both funds and awareness for research into this debilitating condition, which affects around five million people in the UK (or one in five children and one in 12 adults).

Eczema, which makes the skin dry, hot and itchy, and often subsequently broken, raw, and bleeding, can have a devastating effect on lives, with many sufferers experiencing sleepless nights because of their condition. However many scientists now believe that diet can relieve eczema and some claim it could even help prevent the disease in unborn children. For instance, there's increasing evidence that pregnant women who take omega-3 fatty acids may help prevent atopic (inherited) eczema in their children. One recent German study, published in the journal Thorax, found that children born of mothers who ate fish one of the main sources of omega-3 fatty acids once or twice a week while pregnant had a significantly lower chance of developing eczema than those whose mothers ate fish less frequently.

Earlier studies suggest similar findings. A report published in the Alternative Medical Review, meanwhile suggests that children who eat fish two or three times a month from the age of eight to 20 months have a significantly reduced chance of developing any allergy including eczema.

Many experts have come to the conclusion that eczema could be linked to a deficiency of two types of essential fatty acids, namely omega-3 and omega 6 fatty acids.