Journal
JOURNAL OF DENTAL RESEARCH
Volume 88, Issue 4, Pages 361-366Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
DOI: 10.1177/0022034509334043
Keywords
early childhood caries; Healthy Eating Index; oral health disparities
Categories
Funding
- NIH/NIDCR [U54 DE 014264, U54 DE 019275, K24 DE 00419]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Early childhood caries (ECC) is a preventable form of dental caries that affects very young children, particularly among low-income families and certain racial/ethnic minorities. The current study examined the relationship of dietary quality, as measured by the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), to the prevalence of ECC in 2- to 5-year-old children. Data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) were used for the study. We used logistic regression to compute adjusted odds ratios (OR) for ECC and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Children with the best dietary practices (uppermost tertile of the HEI) were 44% less likely to exhibit severe ECC compared with children with the worst dietary practices (lowest tertile of the HEI). A healthy eating pattern geared for promotion of optimal child development and prevention of chronic disease in later life may also reduce the risk of early childhood caries, particularly severe early childhood caries.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available