The researchers also found a consistent association between presence of acne and mental distress – anxiety and depression – in both adolescent boys and girls.
There have been few previous studies examining a possible link between acne and dietary factors, although more recently two studies showed that milk consumption can increase and a low-glycemic-load diet decrease the prevalence of acne, as reported by MedWire News.
A link between mental health problems and diet has also been suggested and in the latest research, Jon Halvorsen (University of Oslo) and colleagues evaluated links among acne, diet, and mental distress in a group of 3775 Norwegian adolescents aged 18–19 years.
The presence of acne was self-reported by the participants. The researchers used the Hopkins Symptom Checklist 10 to measure mental distress, while diet and lifestyle factors were recorded using a questionnaire.
Reporting in the journal BMC Public Health, the investigators write that 14.4% of boys and 12.8% of girls had acne.
The results from the initial analysis showed that boys with acne consumed 40% and 54% more chocolate/sweets and potato chips, respectively, than boys without the condition. They were also 63% more likely to suffer from mental distress.
Girls with acne consumed 41% less raw, fresh vegetables than those without acne. They were also 1.77, 2.14, and 2.16 times more likely to have a non-Western background, be from a low-income family, and suffer from mental distress, respectively, than other girls.
Following adjustment for potential confounding factors, boys and girls with acne were still significantly more likely to suffer from mental distress than those without the condition.
In addition, the association between acne in adolescent girls and low consumption of raw, fresh vegetables was still valid.
Halvorsen commented: “Our study shows a possible link between diet and acne. However, when we introduced symptoms of depression and anxiety in our statistical model, the role of diet became less clear.”
He concluded: “It is too early to give evidence-based diet advice to teenagers with acne.
“I hope that this study will encourage doctors to help adolescents to treat their acne and researchers to find preventive factors. Young people deserve better!”
MedWire (www.medwire-news.md) is an independent clinical news service provided by Current Medicine Group, a part of Springer Science+Business Media. © Current Medicine Group Ltd; 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment