Adolescent Facial Acne Vulgaris and Body Mass Index: Any Relationship?

Acne vulgaris is a common skin disease of adolescents. One risk factor for the development of acne is a high body mass indices. Children with high body mass index are said to be more likely to have increased Insulin-like growth factor-1, which has been implicated in acne pathogenesis. The aim of this study was to correlate body mass index with the presence and severity of facial acne vulgaris in adolescent school children.

This was a cross-sectional study in four co-educational secondary schools in Ibadan, Nigeria. One thousand and seventy nine students aged 9-20 years were physically assessed for facial acne vulgaris and their heights (m2) and weights (kg) were measured for body mass index (kg/m2) estimation. The severity of acne was assessed using the comprehensive acne severity scale. Data was analyzed using the SPSS 16.

The prevalence of facial acne vulgaris was 53.2%. The age of the students ranged from 9-20 years. The mean body mass index (BMI) for the students with acne was 19.9±3.3kg/m2 and 18.3 ± 3.11 kg/m2 for students without acne, P<0.0001. The prevalence of acne was 81.7% among adolescents with a BMI >25Kg/m2, 61.1% in those with a BMI of 18.5-24.99 kg/m2 and 42.0% among adolescents with a BMI of <18.5 Kg/m2, P<0.001 but BMI was not significantly associated with severity of acne (p=0.830).

Adolescents with a high body mass index are more likely to have facial acne vulgaris but severity of acne is independent of body mass index.