title: Relationship between dental caries status and anemia in children with severe early childhood caries.
abstract: Severe early childhood caries (SECC) is a public health problem among preschool children. Malnutrition is a condition commonly prevalent in children with SECC. This study investigated the nutritional status among preschool children with SECC. Children with SECC (n = 101) aged 2-5 years from the Division of Pediatric Dentistry in an academic hospital in Southern Taiwan were recruited for our cross-sectional study. The nutritional status of the children was assessed based on anthropometric measurements and clinical tests. By applying the criteria established by the World Health Organization, we found that 9% and 46% of the children with SECC were diagnosed as being anemic and iron deficient, respectively. Using national standards for the body mass index, 30% of children with SECC were classified as underweight. The relationship between the caries status of the children and anemia was examined using multivariable logistic regression analysis (p < 0.05). Our results show that SECC is strongly associated with anemia (7.25-fold), indicating that clinicians and dentists should provide treatment to improve both the oral hygiene and the nutritional status of children with SECC.
authors.affiliation: School of Dentistry, College of Dental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ru-Shing
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Meng-Chuan
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Shun-Te
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000740:Anemia / Q000150:complications*; D000886:Anthropometry; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003710:Demography; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D000090463:Iron Deficiencies; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000150:complications; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009909:Oral Health; D012307:Risk Factors