Dmfs and BMI in pre-school Greek children. An epidemiological study

Abstract

To investigate the relationship between dental caries (dmfs) and body mass index (BMI) categories in 3-5.5 year old children in Thessaloniki, Greece. The study was conducted in 18 municipal day care centres and involved 361 children. The dmfs was determined on site by one calibrated examiner using disposable dental mirrors and a penlight. The height and weight of the children were measured on site by a nutritionist, who grouped them into four BMI categories, shown in the results. The estimation of the relationship between the BMI and dmfs values was based on a generalized linear model (Poisson log-linear regression) while the sequential Bonferroni method was used for pair-wise comparisons between BMI categories. Mean dmfs values for each BMI category were: 1.02 (SD=2.41) for the underweight (n=44), 0.74 (SD=2.24) for the normal weight (n=281), 1.88 (SD=4.28) for the overweight (n=26) and 0.80 (SD=2.53) for the obese (n=10). Overweight children were found to show statistically significant differences in dmfs values compared with both children of normal weight (p<0.001) and those underweight (p=0.015). Overweight Greek pre-school children are at higher risk of dental caries.