A new study has claimed that those children are more likely to have mental and behavioral problems in later life, who suffer from eczema, a non-infectious skin disease.

According to researchers from Germany's Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, side effects of the skin disease such as sleep disorders, chances of developing hay fever

and asthma, may lead to psychological abnormalities in later life.

The Telegraph reported that during the study 5,991 children born between 1995 and 1998 were studied and it was found that children who suffered from eczema during the first two years of

life were more likely to demonstrate mental disorders, particularly emotional problems, at the age of 10 years compared to those who had not suffered from the disease.

Dr Joachim Heinrich, who led the study, said: "This indicates that eczema can precede and lead to behavioral and psychological problems in children."

The study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, also recommend that eczema in infancy should be recorded in medical records as a potential risk factor for later

psychological problems though the actual disease disappears during the course of childhood. (With Input from Agencies)