Objective: This study reports on the energy, macro-and micronutrient intakes of a true longitudinal group of 143 urban black South African children from the Birth-toTwenty (Bt20) study at two interceptions (2000 and 2003) when they were 10 and 13 years old, respectively. Methods: Subjects resided in the urban Johannesburg/Soweto area of the Gauteng Province in South Africa. Dietary intake was assessed using a semi-quantitative foodfrequency questionnaire. The coded data were analysed using SAS.

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The association of micronutrient intake with caries was weak, isolated and not clinically relevant. Micronutrient intake was not an indicator of the presence or absence of caries among the children studied.

Objective: To study energy and macronutrient intake in relation to dental caries incidence among urban black South African children at the ages of 1 and 5 years. Design and subjects: Food frequency questionnaires and WHO caries diagnostic criteria were used. The study sample of 1639 urban black children with nutrition and dental information from the 1991 and/or 1995 Birth-to-Ten (BTT) Study interceptions comprised true longitudinal (n = 259) and cross-sectional (n = 1216 for 1991 and n = 164 for 1995) subjects. For the longitudinal group true dmfs (decayed, missing, ®lled surfaces) incidence and average intakes of energy and macronutrients between 1991 and 1995 were calculated. Setting: South Africa. Results: Median macronutrient intakes were not signi®cantly different between the cross-sectional and longitudinal samples. Dental caries prevalences at age 1 were 1.2% and 1.5% for the cross-sectional and longitudinal samples, respectively. By age 5 these values were 60.4% and 62.2%, respectively. The median dmfs score at age 1 was 0. At 5 years this was 2 for all children and 5 for those with caries. Statistical analysis for trend at age 5 showed a signi®cant increase in caries prevalence with increasing energy, carbohydrate and added sugar in the cross-sectional sample only. The only signi®cant changes in dmfs scores were seen for energy and added sugar for the whole sample. The r values between log(dmfs incidence 0.3) and the average nutrient log variables were low, and a general linear models analysis showed no statistically signi®cant effects on log(dmfs incidence 0.3) of any of the log nutrient variables. Conclusions: For the relationship between macronutrient intake and caries (prevalence and incidence), a cross-sectional and true longitudinal study gave similar results.

The objective of the study was to compare the frequency of consumption of cariogenic food items among 4-month-old to 24-month-old children in two neighbouring rural areas in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa: Nyuswa/Embo (Area A) (n = 127) and Ndunakazi (Area B) (n = 105). Dietary intake was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire. Mothers or caregivers were interviewed by a team of Zulu-speaking fieldworkers. The percentage of children consuming the individual food items (consumers) and the weekly consumption for consumers were calculated for the two areas separately. The food items were ranked in descending order according to the combined group of children and reported for each area within five selected food groups (carbohydrates, sugars, fruit and vegetables, milk and milk products, and other foods and snacks). Food items were 'flagged' according to their cariogenic potential. Fisher's exact test on absolute numbers tested for significant differences in the frequency of intake between individual food items between the two groups. Significance was set at P < 0.05. The frequency of consumption of certain listed cariogenic food items showed significant differences between the two areas. A higher percentage of children in Area A than in Area B consumed most of the food items and also more frequently. Children mainly consumed foods with a cariogenic score of 2, solid foods with 8-20% sugars as well as foods high in starch with less than 10% sugars. This knowledge is essential to gain insight into the eating pattern among rural communities and will provide a baseline for developing and adapting dietary advice specifically for young rural South African children with particular emphasis on the prevention of dental caries.