Yogurt & eczema in kids

The bacteria in yogurt helps to prevent babies from developing the allergy-related skin condition.

A new study is hoping to prove that yogurt could help prevent the onset of eczema in babies.

According to Wellington School of Medicine scientists, probiotics, the bacteria used in yogurts, will help to prevent babies from developing the allergy-related skin condition eczema.

The study found that giving probiotics did seem to improve an eczematic condition.

According to The New Zealand Herald, the study will monitor 225 babies considered to be at high risk of developing eczema because one or both of their parents suffered from it.

Expectant mothers would be given probiotics for four weeks before the birth of their baby and for the time that they breast fed. The babies would be given the treatment until they turned 2 years old.

The group of 225 would be split into three. Two would be given different types of the bacteria, while the third would be given a placebo.

"The study is based on the theory that because of decreasing level's of probiotics, the opposite of antibiotics, a baby's developing immune system instead turns to fighting other things such as food proteins, thereby creating allergies" said Professor Crane, the research head.