Association Between Obesity, Abdominal Obesity, and Adiposity and the Prevalence of Atopic Dermatitis in Young Korean Adults: the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2008-2010.

PURPOSE: Whether obesity is a risk factor for atopic dermatitis (AD) remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between obesity and AD in Korean young adults.

METHODS: We included nationally representative data of 5,202 Korean adults aged 19-40 years, obtained from the cross-sectional Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2008-2010.

RESULTS: Single (unmarried) status was more frequently observed in AD patients (male, [P=0.0002] and female, [P<0.0001]). AD prevalence exhibited a U-shape trend in relation to body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and total body fat (BF) percentage, especially in young adult women. Women with BMI ≥25 kg/m², WC ≥80 cm, and highest quartile (Q4) of total BF percentage had the highest prevalence of AD. The odds ratio (OR) for participants with both BMI ≥25 kg/m² and WC ≥80 cm was 3.29 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.71-3.55); therefore, having both general and abdominal obesity was considered a prominent risk factor for AD in young women. After adjustment for confounding factors, including age, smoking, alcohol drinking, exercise, vitamin D, income level, and single status, high BMI (≥30 kg/m²) (OR=4.08, 95% CI: 1.53-10.93), high WC (≥80 cm) (OR=2.05, 95% CI: 1.07-3.94), and high BF percentage (Q4) (OR=2.10, 95% CI: 1.24-3.57) were shown to be significantly associated with AD in young adult women.

CONCLUSIONS: In this large-scale nation-wide study of Korean adults, obesity was positively related to the presence of AD in women. Our findings suggest that weight management may help prevent AD.