Association between being overweight and oral health in Serbian schoolchildren. Issue 6 (15th December 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Markovic, Dejan; Ristic‐Medic, Danijela; Vucic, Vesna; Mitrovic, Goran; Nikolic Ivosevic, Jelena; Peric, Tamara; Karadzic, Ivana
• Is Part Of: International journal of paediatric dentistry. Volume 25:Issue 6(2015:Nov.)
• Page Start: 409
• Page End: 417
• Publication Date: 2014-12-15
• Subjects: Pedodontics -- Periodicals; 617.645
• DOI: 10.1111/ipd.12147
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0960-7439

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="ipd12147-abs-0001"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec id="ipd12147-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Background</title> <p>Childhood obesity, dental caries, and periodontal disease are major public health problems due to their adverse impact on the growth and development of children.</p> </sec> <sec id="ipd12147-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Aim</title> <p>To examine the association between nutritional status, oral health, and lifestyle habits among schoolchildren in Serbia.</p> </sec> <sec id="ipd12147-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Design</title> <p>This cross‐sectional study assessed 422 children and adolescents aged 6–18 years with the following dental indexes analyzed: DMF/dmf (decayed, missed, and filled teeth), plaque index (PI), and gingival index (GI). Depending on their nutritional status, the subjects were categorized, as being 'normal weight, ' 'at risk of overweight, ' and 'overweight.' Logistic regression was applied to study the association between the dental indexes and independent variables: gender, age, toothbrushing, nutritional status, and lifestyle factors.</p> </sec> <sec id="ipd12147-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>Being overweight positively correlated with GI, but negatively correlated with the DMF/dmf index among the participants. Multivariate analysis showed a strong association between the weight category and toothbrushing with GI and PI. Overweight children (6–11 years) were less likely to have caries, whereas in older children/adolescents (12–18 years), caries was associated with the intake of sugar‐sweetened juices.</p> </sec> <sec id="ipd12147-sec-0005" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusions</title> <p>Being overweight was found to be significantly associated with a higher probability of developing gingivitis and negatively associated with caries prevalence in Serbian children and adolescents.</p> </sec> </abstract>