OBJECTIVES: A systematic review of the literature was performed to gather the epidemiological evidence related to atopic dermatitis (AD) in a pediatric population.  METHODS: OVID MEDLINE® was searched using terms related to AD, epidemiology, incidence/prevalence in a population ≤18 years old. Two researchers undertook the inclusion/exclusion process on the 466 citations that had been identified.  A third person acted as an overall reviewer and adjudicator.  RESULTS: The major finding was the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) which reported the prevalence of AD in children 6-7 years old from 35 countries at two distinct time periods (around 1995 and 2002). A further 32 independent studies were identified for inclusion in this review. These studies reported on incidence (n=2), prevalence (n=25) or both (n=5) in Europe (n=23), Southeast Asia (n=8) and Africa (n=1).  The number of study participants differed greatly (n=137 to n=317,926). According to ISAAC, the worldwide prevalence rate of AD increased by a rate of 36% from 12.9% in 1995 to 17.5% in 2002. Over that same time period, a 46% increase was reported for North America and Western Europe with the largest increase (95%) observed in Latin America.  By 2002, many (n=9) countries had reached absolute prevalence rates > 30%. The high prevalence of AD as reported by ISAAC was confirmed in the remaining literature, especially in a population of young children and infants, with rates of up to 60%.  The reported incidence rates for a similar population were as high as approximately 10%.  CONCLUSIONS: AD is one of the most prevalent disease conditions in childhood, with an increasing trend in most parts of the world.