When my son was still a baby, until perhaps about 3, he had severe bouts of atopic dermatitis, also called skin asthma, neurodermitis, or atopic eczema. He would have scaly and itchy patches of skin, usually on the wrists, the fold of the elbows and behind the knees. We tried various sorts of creams and other products, including an oatmeal bath, which was supposed to be good for moisturizing the skin, but only a cortisol-containing cream really made a difference.

Luckily he was not allergic to oats. Apparently, a study of more than 300 children with eczema showed that about a third of kids with such skin allergies are allergic to oat proteins.

Overall, 32.5 percent of the children were sensitive to oats, study investigators report in the medical journal Allergy. Skin patch tests showed oat sensitivity among 14.6 percent, while skin prick tests identified oat sensitivity among 19.2 percent of those tested.

Based on this, the researchers suggest that oat-containing skin products should not be used in children younger than two years old.