Dental caries and weight among children in Nuuk, Greenland, at school entry

Abstract

Objective: To explore the possible association between weight class and prevalence of caries among children born 2005-2007, living in Nuuk, Greenland, at time of school entry.Design: A cross-sectional register study based on data from electronic medical records(EMR) and oral health data from public health and dental care facilities.Methods: Data from routine examinations of children at time of primary school entry, including height and weight, were obtained from the EMRs. Dental charts recording oral health and caries were collected from public dental healthcare service. The prevalence of caries was calculated as the proportion of included children with dft score (decayed and/or filled non-permanent teeth) ≥1.Results: 55%(373/681) had relevant data recorded in EMRs and dental charts, and could be included in the study. The prevalence of dental caries was 57.1%(213/373). The prevalence of caries increased with higher weight class,but no statistically significant trend was observed(p=0.063).Conclusions: Increasing prevalence of caries with increasing weight class was observed in this study. A linear trend could not be confirmed statistically. The high prevalence of caries and overweight indicate the need for continued focus on preventative initiatives and monitoring. A combined strategy targeting both caries and overweight may be considered.

Early Childhood Caries and Nutritional Status of Children: A Review

“…However, there are several other confounding variables associated with both ECC and being overweight/obese such as lifestyle, genetic, and geographical factors. 33 The opposite relationship was seen by Shen et al 35 who found that children in China with higher weight-forage had lower progression of dental caries, based on findings of a longitudinal study. Additionally, Kennedy et al 32 reported that there was no association between being overweight and the prevalence of ECC, in a cross-sectional study in Canada.…”

“…physicochemical characteristics of drinking water including fluoride content. 33,34,74 A meta-analysis of 14 studies by Chen et al 26 showed no differences in dental caries between abnormal-and normalweight children in low-and middle-income countries. However, a significantly higher prevalence of dental caries was found among overweight children in high-income countries.…”

Weight among children born 2005-2011 in Nuuk at the time of school entry

“…Body mass index (BMI) was calculated as kg/m 2 . Participants were categorised into age and gender-specific weight classes based on the norms from the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) cut-offs for child overweight, obesity and thinness for children up to 18 years of age [10,11], which permitted comparisons of results with earlier studies from Greenland [7,9,[12][13][14], Canada [15], Denmark [16] the Nordic region [17], Australia [18,19], and the UK [19].…”

“…The major strength of the study is that 78% of eligible children in Nuuk were included children, and our data could be identified electronically. The protocol of this study was designed to allow a comparison with previous studies from Greenland and abroad [9,13,14].…”

Early Childhood Caries in Obese Children: The Status and Associated Factors in the Suburban Areas in Hanoi, Vietnam

“…In Vietnam, Nguyen YHT studies showed that ECC in children 3-5 years old accounted for 79.1% [6], and this rate of 4 years old children in Vo Truong Nhu Ngoc's study was 92% [7]. In addition, many studies have shown that the rate of ECC, S-ECC, dmft, and dmfs index in obese children was higher than in normal children [8][9][10]. In contrary, some studies have shown that the rate of tooth decay in obese children was lower than in normal or malnourished children [11].…”