The present study aimed to develop strategies for the improvement of atopic dermatitis (AD) in children from nursery schools through the improvement of eating habits. The analyses were performed with rank-correlation between the frequency of each eating habit (e.g., intake frequency of meat, egg and soy) and the severity of AD. We included a total of 116 children aged 3 years who entered a nursery school in spring from 2005 to 2007 and were then affiliated for 3 years to the school located in the eastern area of Shizuoka Prefecture. The severity of AD was determined by a doctor, and information regarding eating habits, living arrangement, and property of the children was obtained from the children’s parents twice a year using questionnaires. As a results, when children were divided into groups (e.g., divided based on sex, diet during infancy, and material of the floor of the children’s room), we noted a tendency for an association between decreased AD severity and a diet including breakfast, soy products, dairy products, and home-meal replacement as well as picky eating during infancy; we also noted an association between increased AD severity and a diet including meat, wheat products, and confectionary. In addition, among children common to the two groups, stronger tendencies were observed. For example, in the analyses for determining the correlation between AD severity and picky eating, there was a stronger negative correlations (ρ=–0.833, p<0.001) for children with the highest negative correlation coefficient when grouped according to artificial milk as well as a higher negative correlation coefficient when grouped according to collective housing.

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