Abstract
To investigate the impact of giving children younger than 2years foods and beverages with free sugars on the prevalence of early childhood caries at 5years. The study group consisted of 208 children (105 boys and 103 girls) with a complete set of data on nursing, diet and caries from birth to 5years. We collected feeding habits and dietary data through structured questionnaires at 6, 12, 18 and 24months and the presence of decayed (d), missed (m) and filled (f) teeth was scored according to the WHO criteria at fiveyears of age. We processed data with chi-square tests and expressed as relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals. At the age of 5years, 22% of the children had caries. Intake of fruit juice with meals (RR 2.3) and cookies or biscuits at 24months of age (RR 2.4), as well as fast food consumption at least once every week (RR 2.9), more than doubled the risk for early childhood caries (p < 0.05). Within the limitations of the present study, we found a relationship between consumption of free sugars early in life and dental caries prevalence at 5years. It therefore seems important to embrace and emphasise the current sugar recommendations in primary and dental care to educate caregivers to avoid serving free sugars to their children before the age of 2years.
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