Influence of dietary habits and physical activity on body mass index and dental caries in children of Visakhapatnam
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20261788Keywords:
Physical activity, COVID -19, Caries prevalence, Diet, Obesity, AdolescentsAbstract
Background: Healthy diet and adequate physical activity are necessary for optimal growth of children. Dental caries is the most common disease in children, with diet being one of the contributing risk factors. Lack of physical activity in children also leads to weight gain, which may lead to systemic complications in adulthood. Hence the present study is designed to find out the association between dietary habits and physical activity with body mass index (BMI) and dental caries in children.
Methods: Children between 8–13 years attending the Department of Pedodontics, Gitam Dental College and Hospital were selected through convenience sampling for the survey. Children were given a printed questionnaire regarding the physical activity and individual food preferences. BMI and decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) index of the individual subjects were calculated. Mean scores of the individual questions were tabulated and subjected to statistical analysis.
Results: There is no significant relation between physical activity and increased BMI. Poor dietary habits resulted in increased BMI, with increased junk food and fatty food intake and decreased consumption of vegetables and fruits being important risk factors. Environmental factors including age and gender are additional factors for prevalence of dental caries. Moreover, there is increased caries activity in children with lower BMI.
Conclusions: The findings of this study provided an insight into the oral health status, dietary habits and the changes in lifestyle of school going children in Visakhapatnam post COVID-19, which may be useful in designing and planning preventive oral health programs.
References
Virtanen JI, Muikku T, Similä T, Cinar AB, Pohjola V. Physical activity, BMI and oral health behaviour among adolescents: Finnish School Health Promotion Study. Eur J Public Health. 2019;29(2):296-302.
Mukherjee R, Chaturvedi S. A study of the dietary habits of school children in Pune city, Maharashtra, India. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2017;4:593-7.
Waweru WR, Marete OT. Estimation of relationship between eating habits and body mass index of students in Mount Kenya University, Rwanda. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2016;3:2344-54.
Hong I, Coker-Bolt P, Anderson KR, Lee D, Velozo CA. Relationship between physical activity and overweight and obesity in children: findings from the 2012 national health and nutrition examination survey national youth fitness survey. Am J Occup Ther. 2016;70(5):70058.
Cheng Y, Liao Y, Chen D. Prevalence of dental caries and its association with body mass index among school-age children in Shenzhen, China. BMC Oral Health. 2019;19:270.
Ferraro M, Vieira AR. Explaining gender differences in caries: a multifactorial approach to a multifactorial disease. Int J Dent. 2010;2:649643.
Al-Ansari A, Nazir M. Relationship between Obesity and Dental Caries in Saudi Male Adolescents. Int J Dent. 2020;8:8811974.
Rasul F, Rizvi Z, Aqeel R, Wahid SM, Ahmed A, Shah SH. Oral hygiene practices and knowledge about dental caries among 15 years old school students in lahore population: a cross-sectional survey. Biomed J Sci & Tech Res. 2019;20(3):3469.
Bhargava M, Kandpal SD, Aggarwal P. Physical activity correlates of overweight and obesity in school-going children of Dehradun, Uttarakhand. J Family Med Prim Care. 2016;5:564-8.
Te Morenga L, Mallard S, Mann J. Dietary sugars and body weight: systematic review and meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials and cohort studies. BMJ. 2012;15;346:7492.
Munjal V, Talwar PS, Singh J, Kumar M, Gambhir RS. Dental caries and its association with present day dietary patterns: a cross-sectional study. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2018;5:2138-43.
Tanaka C, Janssen X, Pearce M, Parkinson K, Basterfield L, Adamson A, et al. Bidirectional associations between adiposity, sedentary behavior and physical activity: a longitudinal study in children. J Phys Act Health. 2018;15(12):918-26.
Liang JJ, Zhang ZQ, Chen YJ, Mai JC, Ma J, Yang WH, Jing J. Dental caries is negatively correlated with body mass index among 7-9 years old children in Guangzhou, China. BMC Public Health. 2016;16:638.
Goenka P, Dutta S, Marwah N, Sarawgi A, Nirwan M, Mishra P. Prevalence of Dental Caries in Children of Age 5 to 13 Years in District of Vaishali, Bihar, India. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent. 2018;11(5):359-64.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
