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Free sugars and early childhood caries development: a prospective cohort study

Freie Zucker und frühkindliche Kariesentwicklung: eine prospektive Kohortenstudie

Oralprophylaxe & Kinderzahnheilkunde volume 45, pages 88–93 (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

Purpose : To investigate the impact of giving children younger than 2 years foods and beverages with free sugars on the prevalence of early childhood caries at 5 years.

Materials and methods: The study group consisted of 208 children (105 boys and 103 girls) with a complete set of data on nursing, diet and caries from birth to 5 years. We collected feeding habits and dietary data through structured questionnaires at 6, 12, 18 and 24 months and the presence of decayed (d), missed (m) and filled (f) teeth was scored according to the WHO criteria at 5 years of age. We processed data with chi-square tests and expressed as relative risk (RR) with 95 % confidence intervals.

Results: At the age of 5 years, 22% of the children had caries. Intake of fruit juice with meals (RR 2.3) and cookies or biscuits at 24 months of age (RR 2.4), as well as fast food consumption at least once every week (RR 2.9), more than doubled the risk for early childhood caries (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: Within the limitations of the present study, we found a relationship between consumption of free sugars early in life and dental caries prevalence at 5 years. It therefore seems important to embrace and emphasise the current sugar recommendations in primary and dental care to educate caregivers to avoid serving free sugars to their children before the age of 2 years.

Zusammenfassung

Zweck: Es wurde untersucht, welche Auswirkungen die Gabe von Lebensmitteln und Getränken mit freien Zuckern an Kinder unter 2 Jahren auf die Prävalenz der frühkindlichen Karies im Alter von 5 Jahren hat.

Material und Methoden: Die Studiengruppe bestand aus 208 Kindern (105 Jungen und 103 Mädchen) mit einem vollständigen Datensatz zu Stillen, Ernährung und Karies von der Geburt bis zum Alter von 5 Jahren. Die Daten zu den Fütterungsgewohnheiten und zur Ernährung wurden mit strukturierten Fragebögen im Alter von 6, 12, 18 und 24 Monaten erhoben, und das Vorhandensein von kariösen, fehlenden und gefüllten Zähnen wurde im Alter von 5 Jahren nach den WHO-Kriterien bewertet. Die Daten wurden mittels Chi-Quadrat-Test verarbeitet und als relatives Risiko (RR) mit 95 %-Konfidenzintervall angegeben.

Ergebnisse: Im Alter von 5 Jahren hatten 22 % der Kinder Karies. Die Gabe von Fruchtsaft zu den Mahlzeiten (RR 2,3) und von Keksen oder Gebäck im Alter von 24 Monaten (RR 2,4) sowie die Gabe von Fast Food mindestens einmal pro Woche (RR 2,9) haben das Risiko für frühkindliche Karies mehr als verdoppelt (p < 0,05).

Schlussfolgerung: Innerhalb der Limitationen der vorliegenden Studie konnte ein Zusammenhang zwischen der Gabe von freien Zuckern im frühen Kindesalter und der Karies-prävalenz im Alter von 5 Jahren festgestellt werden. Daher erscheint es wichtig, die aktuellen Zuckerempfehlungen in der Primär- und Zahnpflege zu berücksichtigen und hervorzuheben, um Betreuungspersonen dahingehend zu schulen, die Gabe von freien Zuckern an Kinder unter 2 Jahren zu vermeiden.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all parents and children for their kind willingness to invest time and take part in the present project and Dr. Jovanna Dahlgren for data access.

Funding

The project was funded by grants from Region Halland, Sweden and the author's institutions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Maxillofacial Unit, Halland Hospital Halmstad, 302 33, Halmstad, Schweden

    Katarina Boustedt

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Halland Hospital Halmstad, 302 33, Halmstad, Schweden

    Josefine Roswall

  3. Department of Odontology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Nørre Allé 20, 2200, Copenhagen N, Dänemark

    Svante Twetman

Authors
  1. Katarina Boustedt
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  2. Josefine Roswall
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  3. Svante Twetman
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Correspondence to Svante Twetman.

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Boustedt, K., Roswall, J. & Twetman, S. Free sugars and early childhood caries development: a prospective cohort study. Oralprophylaxe Kinderzahnheilkd 45, 88–93 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44190-023-0657-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s44190-023-0657-2

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