Contrary to previous findings, most younger children with carious primary teeth are not underweight and instead may be overweight or at risk of being overweight, said researchers at the March 10 annual meeting of the International Association for Dental Research in Orlando, Fla.
"Studies in the 1990s found that children with rampant tooth decay appeared to be underweight, and this was attributed to a failure to thrive," said senior author Dr. Hiran Perinpanayagam, an endodontist and assistant professor, University at Buffalo, State University of New York (UB), School of Dental Medicine.
"In contrast, a more recent study found that the children with tooth decay did not have reduced body weight," he continued. "Given these conflicting results, we thought a more definitive study was needed."
UB researchers led by Dr. Sandra McDougal, pediatric dental resident, UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, analyzed 407 complete records of children 2 to 5 years old who were treated for early childhood cavities at the UB pediatric clinic in 2000 and between January and April 2005, as well as the records of 79 cavity-free children who were seen in May 2005. The analysis included sex, age, height and body weight at the time of treatment. Researchers assessed body weight using the body mass index (BMI) for age, which takes into account childhood growth patterns.
Results showed that 8.2 percent and 7.2 percent of the children with cavities were underweight in 2000 and 2005, respectively. In contrast, 16.5 percent were at risk of being overweight and 10.6 percent were overweight in 2000, and 10.5 percent were nearly overweight and 15.6 percent were overweight in 2005.
Although the average age-adjusted BMI was higher in children with cavities in 2005 than in children with cavities in 2000, or those who were free of cavities, these differences were not significant, Dr. Perinpanayagam noted.
"The significance of these findings is that there may be a connection between a poor diet that causes tooth decay and one that leads to childhood overweight and obesity," said Dr. Perinpanayagam. "Our next step will be to see if those children who improve their diet to stop a recurrence of cavities also are able to maintain healthy body weight."
