A study of skin color by melanin index according to site, gestational age, birth weight and season of birth in Korean neonates

Human skin color shows variations throughout life and influenced by various factors such as race, sex, age and hormones. Since the development of spectrophotometer, many studies on human skin color have been done. However, few studies have been carried out to measure the skin color of neonatal infants. The aim of our study was to assess the variations in skin color according to site, gestational age, birth weight and season of birth in Korean neonates. A total of 447 healthy neonates (3 days after birth, 213 males and 234 females) were enrolled in the present study. Skin pigmentation was measured by reflectance spectrophotometer (Derma-Spectrophotometer (R), Cortex technology, Hadsund, Denmark) at four different sites (forehead, upper arm, abdomen, and inguinal area). The forehead showed highest melanin index in all sites measured (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference according to gestational age, birth weight, and season of birth. This result imply that the skin color in neonates is mainly determined genetically.