Study Says Organic Food Cuts Risk of Atophy

The reduced incidence of atopic disorders is likely due to a combination of organic food consumption and health education, according to a study released yesterday.

According to Gayang Elementary School in Seoul, a project to create an atophy-free school environment had the school provide students organic food-based lunches for five months. As a result, the number of students having atopic disorders fell seven percent.

The school said 178 among its 879 students, or 20.5 percent, had atopic dermatitis in March this year, when it changed its diet to organic meat, vegetables and dairy products.

After the five-month project, however, the school analyzed blood samples taken from students and found the rate of the disorder fell seven percent to 117 students, or 13.5 percent of the student body.

“Minimizing consumption of food additives through organic food and educating children and parents on atopic prevention seem to be the most effective factors. There was a significant decrease in the numbers of students with symptoms of atopic dermatitis,” said the school dietitian.

The school submitted the study results to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and the city government.

Students at another elementary school in the controlled group were offered no organic-based meals and had no difference in atopic dermatitis.

Before the school started the experiment project in March, it found that 67 out of 335 students, or 20 percent, had symptoms of atopic dermatitis. In July, it randomly chose 40 children among those with atophy and found no difference from their previous test results.

This was the country’s first clinical test to show a correlation between atopic dermatitis and food consumption.

A dermatologist who took part in the clinical trial said, “Much controversy has surrounded the relationship between atopic dermatitis and chemical food additives. This experiment clearly demonstrates the correlation between them.”

Atopic dermatitis has grown rapidly in children in recent years to 29.5 percent in 2006 from 16.3 percent in 1995.

likeday@donga.com