Relating dental caries experience with body mass index among Nigerian primary school children: A cross-sectional survey

Abstract

Objective:To determine the dental caries experience and body mass index (BMI) of primary school children from both public and private schools in Ugbowo, Benin City. Materials and Methods: Primary school children from conveniently selected private and public schools were examined for dental caries and also underwent height and weight measurement for their BMI calculation during the Association of Resident Doctors, University of Benin Teaching Hospital School Health program in December 2010, using the WHO criteria. Results: Of the participants, 3.8% and 5.2% of them were overweight and obese respectively. A total of 33 (15.7%) of the children had dental caries with a mean decayed, missing filled, and teeth (DMFT) of 0.25 ± 0.04. The prevalence of untreated caries (decayed teeth [DT]), DMFT were 30 (14.3%), 1 (0.5%), and 2 (1.0%) respectively. DT contributed 90.9% (30/33) of DMFT that for the mean DMFT in underweight children was 0.21 that for the normal weight children were 0.26 that for the overweight children was 0.50 and for the obese children was 0.18. The prevalence of dental caries was the highest among obese participants followed by normal weight, underweight and overweight participants. There was no significant association between BMI, DMFT and caries experience. Conclusion: Dental caries experience among primary school children in Ugbowo is comparable to that reported in other Nigerian Pediatric populations and an increasing trend in the prevalence of overweight and obesity. However, non-significant association between the BMI and caries experience was noted. Success-oriented oral health promotion should take cognizance of differential prevalence of dental caries in terms of gender and type of school recorded in this study.

Prevalence of dental caries in the permanent dentition amongst 12-year-olds in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Prevalence and pattern of dental caries among a sample of Nigerian public primary school children Adeniyi [31] Combined age groups Prevalence of dental caries: national pilot study comparing the severity of decay (CAO) vs ICDAS index in Senegal Aidara [32] Sociobehavioural risk factors of dental caries among selected adolescents in Ibadan, Nigeria Ajayi [33] Assessment of dental caries status among school children aged 9-12 years of Sebha city-Libya by using of dft/ DMFT & SiC indices Arrish [34] Caries experience and caries predictors-a study of Tanzanian children consuming drinking water with different fluoride concentrations Awadia [35] Relating dental caries experience with body mass index among Nigerian primary school children: A cross-sectional survey Azodo [36] Fluorosis, caries and oral hygiene in schoolchildren on the Ombili foundation in Namibia Berndt [37] Severity of dental caries among 12-year-old Sudanese children with different fluoride exposure Birkeland [38] Wrong year of publication Prevalence of oral conditions and associated factors among schoolchildren in Accra, Ghana: a crosssectional study…”

Association between early childhood caries and malnutrition in a sub-urban population in Nigeria

“…The association between ECC and malnutrition is however, not clear. Although a few studies have found an association between ECC, body mass index (BMI) [11–13] and growth failure [14–18], others have found no associations [6, 19–21]. Also, while large population-based studies found no association between BMI and ECC [19, 22–24], a longitudinal study indicated that malnutrition causes ECC [25], ECC causes stunting, and underweights have more ECC [26], ECC and obesity are both risk factors for type 2 diabetes [27].…”

“…The studies on the association between malnutrition and caries in Nigeria were conducted in children older than 5 years [11, 40]. These studies were school-based and found no association between BMI and caries.…”

Relationship between obesity and dental caries experience in patients attending Tagore Dental College, Chennai, India: A cross-sectional survey

“…For the purpose of analysis, of caries experience, the participants with DMFT 0 were categorized as having no dental caries while those with DMFT of 1 or more were categorized as having dental caries. [15] An accepted method to evaluate an individual's body weight relative to population norms was determined by calculating BMI by dividing weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. [16,17] Moreover, the WHO had stated BMI provides the most useful population-level measure of overweight and obesity as it is the same for both sexes and all ages of adults; [3] hence, BMI was used to measure obesity in the present study.…”