Abstract
Aim: This study aimed to investigate an association between dental caries status and anthropometric measures in primary school children. Methods and Materials: An analytical cross-sectional study (n = 376) was conducted among primary school children (age range = 6–9 years) registered in private schools. Non-clinical data was gathered from parents of participating children through a self-administered structured questionnaire as well as from the children through an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Clinical data included the examination of dental caries using dmft/DMFT index and anthropometric measures including calculated z-scores of height-for-age (HAZ), weight-for-age (WAZ), BMI-for-age (BAZ), and physical examination. Inferential statistics included Kruskal Wallis and linear regression for univariate and multivariate analysis respectively. Results: The proportion of dental caries in primary and secondary dentition was 67.6% and 8.2% respectively. A significant association was observed between dental caries status and HAZ, WAZ, and BAZ (p < 0.001). An inverse relation was found between low, medium, and high dental caries categories and anthropometric measures. Conclusions: In the primary dentition, dental caries were significantly and inversely related to weight-for-age, height-for-age, and BMI-for-age. Hence, it can be concluded that among the low-income population dental caries is associated with lower anthropometric outcomes in children and therefore caries management should be considered an approach impacting overall health and quality of life.
Highlights
Dental caries in childhood is the 2nd most common and prevalent condition adding up to the global burden of chronic diseases [1]
When the results were compared to the study conducted by Alkarimi et al, the prevalence of dental caries in primary dentition is lower than dental caries in primary school children, which was 87.1% [15]
It was seen that with the increase in dental caries scores the scores for HAZ, WAZ and BAZ kept declining linearly. These findings are in agreement with the present study since we have found an inverse relationship between dental caries categories and all the anthropometric measurements
Summary
Dental caries in childhood is the 2nd most common and prevalent condition adding up to the global burden of chronic diseases [1]. Findings of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have revealed that 50% of schoolchildren aged 6–11 exhibit dental caries. Its untreated form is a financial burden but may have adverse effects on quality of life [2]. On one hand, maybe associated with obesity or on the other hand with underweight/stunting; both of these are forms of malnutrition. Obesity and underweight in children have deteriorating consequences on child’s health, growth, and quality of life. Impaired physical development due to underweight and stunting leads to alteration in mental health resulting in lower IQ, causing lack of educational achievement [3]
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