Assessment of Dietary Habits of Undergraduate Students with Acne

Abstract

Acne vulgaris is one of the most widespread and distressing chronic skin diseases worldwide. It affects about 9.4% of the world’s population during a specific period of their life. Several underlying risk factors like poor dietary habits, family history and poor hygiene are known for acne development. Objective: To assess the dietary habits of undergraduate students with acne. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study including 173 undergraduate students from 3 colleges of Akhtar Saeed Group located at Canal Campus, Lahore. A self-designed questionnaire was used to assess dietary habits of acne participants after getting their written consent. The collected was analyzed by SPSS. Results:  The results of this study showed that 54% of selected respondents had acne, with the majority having oily skin and females. The consumption of high glycemic index fruits, junk foods, oily foods, sugary foods, especially dark chocolates, sweetened beverages and milk was found to very high among the acne respondents. They consumed vegetables and whole grains very occasionally. Conclusions: This study concluded that diet has a very high impact in causing acne. Further studies are needed to be done in order to find a more comprehensive link between acne and diet.