Atopic eczema affects one in five children in the United Kingdom1 and accounts for 1 in 30 consultations in community care.2 Recent data suggest that impaired skin barrier function is a major causative factor.3 4 There may be considerable physical and emotional morbidity for the child and the parents or carers, particularly if the disease is poorly controlled.5 Yet most healthcare professionals receive little or no relevant training in dermatology,6 and lack of knowledge, confusion, and anxiety about many of the available treatments are widespread among parents.5 7 This article summarises the most recent guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) on how to manage atopic eczema in children from birth up to the age of 12 years.8 NICE recommendations are based on systematic reviews of the best available evidence. When minimal evidence is available, a range of consensus techniques is used to develop recommendations. In this summary, recommendations derived primarily from consensus techniques are indicated with an asterisk (*). ### Diagnosis and assessment #### Box 1 Criteria for diagnosing atopic eczema in children Itching plus three or more of:
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Lewis‐Jones et al. (2007) studied this question.
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