Correlations between diet quality and early childhood caries among 2- to 5-year-old Chinese children：A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Early childhood caries (ECC) is one of the most common chronic diseases among children. Diet quality assessment is better than single food or specific nutrient assessment in predicting the risk of ECC. This study is aimed to explore the correlations between diet quality and ECC among 2- to 5-year-old Chinese children. Methods: Totally 150 two- to five-year-old children were selected in this study. The decayed, missing or filled surface (dmfs) of each child was examined and recorded. Then the children were divided by ages and dmfs scores into the caries-free group, ECC group, and severe ECC (SECC) group respectively. The information of 24-h dietary intake from each child was captured via a mobile APP. The diet quality of each child was assessed by calculating the Chinese diet balance index for preschool children (DBI_C) indicators scores, high bound score (HBS), low bound score (LBS) and diet quality distance (DQD). Correlations of HBS, LBS, DQD and scores of 10 food group indicators with ECC were evaluated using rank sum test and logistic regression analysis.Results: The probabilities of ECC and SECC are positively correlated with HBS (OR: ECC=1.102, SECC=1.098) and with DQD (OR: ECC=1.117, SECC=1.114), but not correlated with LBS (P>0.05) among the 2- to 5-year-old children. The severity of caries among the 2- to 5-year-old children are positively correlated with the score of Grains (OR: ECC=1.322, SECC=2.929) and negatively with the score of Food diversity (OR: ECC=0.378, SECC=0.034), but not correlated with other indicators. Conclusions: The possibilities of ECC and SECC among the 2- to 5-year-old children are positively correlated with the degree of excessive dietary intake and dietary imbalance. The severity of caries among the 2- to 5-year-old children is positively correlated with grains intake and negatively with food diversity.