Caries Prevalence and Its Association with Body Mass Index in Children Aged 4 to 10 Years in Al Dulaymiah Qassim Region of Saudi Arabia – A Pilot Study

Abstract

Introduction - Dental caries is a commonly encountered disease of childhood. It is a multifactorial disease and consumption of fermentable carbohydrates is one of causes for caries. Ingestion of excessive amounts of refined carbohydrates is also associated with obesity. Aims - The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of dental caries and its association with Body Mass Index (B.M.I) in Al Dulaymiah. Subjects and methods - The study consisted of 2 parts. In the first part, the socio demographic details were recorded. The second part consisted of the clinical dental examination and height and weight measurements. Dental caries was recorded as per World Health Organization criteria using the WHO Oral health form 1997. The weight was measured using a digital weighing scale nearest to 0.1 kg while the children wore light clothing and no shoes. The height was measured to the nearest full centimeter using a stadiometre while the children were in standing position. BMI was calculated by dividing the kilogram by height squared (kg/m2). Results- The highest percentages of caries were found among the underweight and overweight males (93.1 % and 85% respectively) with statistically significant difference from females who showed 73% caries in underweight females while no caries where detected among the overweight females. Considering the Odds Ratio the underweight children are more likely to have caries than the normal and overweight children in our study.