A scoping review of epidemiologic risk factors for pediatric obesity: Implications for future childhood obesity and dental caries prevention research

Abstract

Research Questions: What are the non-modifiable (socioeconomic, genetic) and modifiable factors (physical activity, dietary behaviors) related to childhood (under age 12) obesity? How can this knowledge be applied to oral health professionals' efforts to prevent or manage dental caries in children? Objectives: Studies have identified risk factors for childhood obesity. The purpose of this scoping review was to develop a conceptual model to identify nonmodifiable and modifiable risk factors for childhood obesity and to illustrate how these findings are relevant in developing interventions aimed at preventing obesity and dental caries in children. Methods: The authors searched PubMed and Embase and limited the study to English-language publications. A total of 2,572 studies were identified. After deduplication, 2,479 studies remained and were downloaded into a citationmanagement tool. Two authors screened the titles and abstracts for relevance. Two hundred and sixty studies remained and were retrieved for a full-text review, and 80 studies were excluded, resulting in 180 studies included in the scoping review. An inductive content analytic methods was used to organize all statistically significant obesity risk factors into seven domains, which were classified as nonmodifiable or modifiable; then a conceptual model of common risk factors associated with childhood obesity and dental caries was developed. Results: Non-modifiable obesity risk factors include biological and developmental (e.g., genes, developmental conditions, puberty), sociodemographic and household (e.g., race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, parent education, unemployment), cultural (e.g., degree of acculturation), and community (e.g., neighborhood composition). Modifiable risk factors included behavioral (e.g., diet, physical activity, weight), psychosocial (e.g., maternal stress, family functioning, parenting practices, child temperament), and medical (e.g., parent smoking, maternal health, child health). Conclusions: Identifying common risk factors has important implications for future oral health research aimed at preventing childhood obesity and dental caries. Epidemiologic knowledge gleaned from the literature can be used to develop rigorous interventions and programs aimed at preventing these highly prevalent diseases and improving health outcomes for children.

Sweetness Taste Preference Levels and Their Relationship to the Nutritional and Dental Caries Patterns among Brazilian Preschool Children

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Associations between different weight‐related anthropometric traits and lifestyle factors in Norwegian children and adolescents: A case for measuring skinfolds

“…Many factors are associated with overweight and obesity in children. These include socioeconomic status (Shrewsbury, Wardle, ; Júlíusson et al, ), unhealthy eating habits such as irregular meals, snacking and the frequent consumption of sugar‐containing beverages (Chi, Luu, Chu, ), and sedentary behavior, usually reported as screen time, TV viewing or the proxy measure of having a TV in the bedroom (Carson et al, ; Gebremariam et al, ). Results may, however, differ according to the outcome parameter under study.…”