Obesity and dental caries among preschool children in Brazil.
OBJECTIVE
This study was aimed at verifying the relationship between childhood obesity and dental caries.


METHODS
A total of 2,651 preschool children were examined for this cross-sectional study in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil; 1,338 of them attended public schools and 1,313 private schools. The clinical data and anthropometric measurements were obtained in line with WHO criteria. Pearson chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests were used, with a 5 % margin of error.


RESULTS
The prevalence of child obesity was 9 % (n=240). The highest prevalence was observed amongst children in private elementary schools (p<0.0001). The prevalence of dental caries was 19 % (n=504). The DMFT index was smaller in non-obese individuals (p=0.0267). The average value of dental caries, lost teeth and DMFT were significantly higher among children in public elementary schools than amongst those in private pre-schools (p<0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
No relationship was found between dental caries and obesity. Suitable health policies should be adopted so as to minimise the high prevalence of dental caries among this population.
Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brasil. anaflaviagg@hotmail.com
Ana F
AF
Granville-Garcia
Valdenice A
VA
de Menezes
Pedro I
PI
de Lira
Jainara M
JM
Ferreira
Alessandro
A
Leite-Cavalcanti
D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*