4.5 Conclusion
Our findings show that ever eczema was significantly associated with food allergy, asthma and hay fever. The different eczema phenotypes observed varying degrees of association with these allergic diseases and the strongest associations were shown for “Very early onset – persistent” eczema. These results support our hypothesis that children, with very early onset and persistent eczema, are at highest risk for developing food or inhalant allergies. Ultimately, exploring methods or biomarkers which might aid in the early identification of this subpopulation could increase the efficacy of early prevention and treatment measures, leading to individual based medicine.