Association of Dental Caries and Anthropometric Measures among Primary School Children

<i>Aim</i>: This study aimed to investigate an association between dental caries status and anthropometric measures in primary school children. <i>Methods and Materials</i>: An analytical cross-sectional study (<i>n</i> = 376) was conducted among primary school ch...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wajiha Anzar, Ambrina Qureshi, Ashar Afaq, Hiba F. Kattan, Basil Almutairi, Khaled M. Alzahrani, Mustafa Naseem, Fahim Vohra, Tariq Abduljabbar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
Series:Children
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/8/3/223
Description
Summary:<i>Aim</i>: This study aimed to investigate an association between dental caries status and anthropometric measures in primary school children. <i>Methods and Materials</i>: An analytical cross-sectional study (<i>n</i> = 376) was conducted among primary school children (age range = 6–9 years) registered in private schools. Non-clinical data was gathered from parents of participating children through a self-administered structured questionnaire as well as from the children through an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Clinical data included the examination of dental caries using dmft/DMFT index and anthropometric measures including calculated z-scores of height-for-age (HAZ), weight-for-age (WAZ), BMI-for-age (BAZ), and physical examination. Inferential statistics included Kruskal Wallis and linear regression for univariate and multivariate analysis respectively. <i>Results</i>: The proportion of dental caries in primary and secondary dentition was 67.6% and 8.2% respectively. A significant association was observed between dental caries status and HAZ, WAZ, and BAZ (<i>p</i> < 0.001). An inverse relation was found between low, medium, and high dental caries categories and anthropometric measures. <i>Conclusions</i>: In the primary dentition, dental caries were significantly and inversely related to weight-for-age, height-for-age, and BMI-for-age. Hence, it can be concluded that among the low-income population dental caries is associated with lower anthropometric outcomes in children and therefore caries management should be considered an approach impacting overall health and quality of life.
ISSN:2227-9067