Early childhood caries, obesity and anthropometric measurements: Is there a relationship?

Karina Ferreira Rizzardi; Camila Lopes Crescente; Claudia Maria Dos Santos Pereira Indiani; Carolina Steiner-Oliveira; Marinês Nobre-Dos-Santos; Thaís Manzano Parisotto

doi:10.3389/fnut.2022.873562

Early childhood caries, obesity and anthropometric measurements: Is there a relationship?

Front Nutr. 2022 Aug 10:9:873562. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.873562. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Karina Ferreira Rizzardi¹, Camila Lopes Crescente¹, Claudia Maria Dos Santos Pereira Indiani¹, Carolina Steiner-Oliveira², Marinês Nobre-Dos-Santos², Thaís Manzano Parisotto¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Clinical and Molecular Microbiology, University São Francisco - USF, Bragança, Brazil.
² Pediatric Dentistry, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Piracicaba Dental School, State University of Campinas - UNICAMP, Piracicaba, Brazil.

Abstract

This brief research report explored the relationship among obesity, anthropometric measurements, and early childhood caries (ECC), in 3-5 years-old children. Three hundred and ninety-one Brazilian preschoolers were given anthropometric examinations for the assessment of general, peripheral, and central adiposity, by the following measures: body mass index (BMI), hip circumference, and waist circumference. Obesity status was determined by BMI according to WHO standards. Parent's age and BMI were assessed by questionnaire, and sucrose exposure was tracked by means of a food diary. For the assessment of ECC, dental examinations were performed according to modified WHO criteria. Also, the presence of dental biofilm in maxillary incisors was detected. A direct association between BMI and ECC was found in the bivariate analysis and the best possibility of logistic regression model showed that hip circumference (HC) values ≥62 centimeters (OR = 1.63; p = 0.033) jointly with the presence of dental biofilm (OR = 2.38; p = 0.000), children's ages ≥37 months (OR = 5.09; p = 0.012), and mothers younger than 35 years (OR = 1.96; p = 0.004) were significantly connected with ECC. In conclusion, peripheral adiposity (represented by HC) in young children was in fact associated with ECC. Thus, hip circumference might be a valuable tool for exploring the relationship between caries and obesity in the early years of life.

Keywords: anthropometry; children; dental caries; obesity; preschool (kindergarten).