Baby Care: Olive, Sunflower Oils Harmful to Newborn Babies, Experts Warn Parents

Do not massage babies with either sunflower or olive oil, the experts strongly advised parents. These oils can weaken the barrier that blocks infections and allergens and stops water loss, according to a new study led by Dr. Alison Cooke and run from St. Mary's Hospital in Central Manchester, UK.

Numbers of childhood eczema in U.K. for kids between 2 and 15 years of age stood at just five percent in the 1940s compared to the 30 percent today, DigitalJournal has learned. Concerned with the increasing rate of kids having eczema in U.K., researchers test the effects of olive and sunflower oils on the skin of babies which were recommended by midwives for a baby dry skin. 

To gather data, researchers recruited 115 healthy infants in Saint Mary's Hospital. The newly born babies were split into three clusters: no oil, sunflower oil and olive oil. The babies were rubbed with few drops of oil two times a day for around 28 days to a part of the skin. Then the researchers analyzed the skins of babies. 

The study which was published in National Center for Biotechnology Information's official website revealed that skin of babies treated with olive and sunflower oils revealed the slow growth of skin barrier protection. Furthermore, both babies treated and not treated with oils showed no great differences in scores of trans-epidermal water loss or TEWL and erythema or pH.

Skin barrier protection is a barrier protection with blocks made out of cells and held close together by lipid lamellae. Alison Cooke, head of the study, noted that if the skin barrier protection. However, then cracks appear which let water out and foreign bodies through. 

The study also discovered that babies applied with oils tend to be much hydrated. However, researchers do not recommend the use of these oils on babies' skin as effects of olive and sunflower oils on lipid layer of baby skin were not understood fully yet.

Though a study run from South Asia discovered that sunflower oils include an antimicrobial effect that could benefit infants born prematurely in evolving nations, the Manchester researchers do not endorse the use of these oils for healthy babies in U.K. The researchers wished to do more studies on this matter with various oils as well as also study possible connections to eczema.