Abstract
Objectives
To
determine whether caries experience in late childhood (aged 7-9 years)
was predictive of adolescent obesity (ages 12-16 years) to inform the
use of a common risk factor approach (CRFA) for prevention.
Methods
A
cohort study was conducted in an area of North West England. Clinical
assessment of caries took place using the same methodology at ages 7-9
years and 12-16 years. Body mass index (BMI) category was calculated
from height and weight measurements using age and gender specific
cut-offs at 12-16 years only. The association between dependent variable
(BMI category dichotomized as underweight/normal and overweight/obese)
and explanatory variables (baseline and follow-up dental caries and
sociodemographic status) adjusted for age, was assessed.
Results
At
baseline, 5,470 (96.8 percent) participants took part and information
was available for 2,958 (54.1 percent) participants at follow-up.
Univariate analysis indicated that BMI category in adolescence was not
shown to be significantly associated with: the presence or absence of
caries in late childhood (P = 0.61); in adolescence (P = 0.06); gender (P = 0.91); or deprivation (P = 0.35).
Multivariate logistic regression indicated that BMI category in
adolescence was not predicted by caries in late childhood or
adolescence, after adjusting for sociodemographic variables.
Conclusion
Caries
and obesity were highly prevalent in this population. Caries in
childhood was not shown to be associated with obesity in adolescence and
there was no cross-sectional association between the two diseases in
adolescence. A CRFA is not precluded, however, the results suggest that
additional interventions, specific for each disease, are required to
prevent obesity and caries.
Comments