Background: Sweet, spicy or greasy food, staying up late, and using electronic products for a long time are common bad habits nowadays. Their role in skin diseases has been paid much attention.
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether unhealthy lifestyles would affect the skin sebum content, SC hydration, and pH and how do they affect.
Methods: A total of 300 volunteers were enrolled, and a multifunctional skin physiology monitor measured the three skin biophysical properties on the forehead and dorsal hand. Lifestyle factors were evaluated by a self-administered questionnaire.
Results: Eating oily, sweet, spicy food, and staying up late increased the sebum content of the forehead significantly. Dorsal hand SC hydration was higher in people eating more sweet food and oily food, and forehead SC hydration was higher in people eating more sweet food and go to bed earlier. Eating sweet food could increase pH in both forehead and dorsal hand. The forehead pH decreased in using electronic products over 6 hours a day or staying up late. There are significant differences in sebum, hydration, and pH value among different age groups. In males, the pH was lower than females, but the sebum was higher.
Conclusion: Sebum content, SC hydration, and pH are affected by unhealthy lifestyles, age, and gender.
Keywords: age; gender; skin biophysical parameters; unhealthy styles.
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