Daily Consumption of Cariogenic Foods and Caries in Preschool Children

Objectives: The present study analyzed the association between caries experience and the daily consumption of cariogenic foods in preschool children.
Methods: A pilot study was conducted with 160 Brazilian preschool children attending public daycare centers. A specific food frequency questionnaire was filled in by the parents to evaluate how often cariogenic foods were consumed by the children on daily bases. It was developed based on food, solids and liquids, containing sucrose in their composition of a 24-hour recall applied to 30 mothers of preschool children who were selected by convenience. To calculate each child’s estimated daily servings for cariogenic foods, the frequency of consumption were converted to daily servings, and then the sum of them was calculated for all foods. Caries experience was assessed using the decayed, missing and filled teeth (dmft) index. The comparison between the number of contacts with cariogenic foods according to caries experience was performed using the Mann-Whitney Test.
Results: The prevalence of dental caries among the preschool children was 49% (CI95%: 42-57). The daily contact with cariogenic foods in the group of children with caries (mean = 5.43 ± 4.81, median = 4) was higher (p = 0.039) than in those without caries (mean = 4.25 ± 3.24, median = 3.22). The same occurred related to cariogenic beverages between children with (mean = 3.12 ± 2.42, median = 2.29) and without caries (mean = 2.57 ± 2.01, median = 1.93) (p = 0.043).There were no differences in the number of daily contact with cariogenic solids according to caries status. Considering each food isolated, children with caries had a higher frequency of daily consumption of sweet biscuit (p = 0.028) and powdered juice (p <0.001) than those without caries.
Conclusions: Preschool children with dental caries exhibited a higher daily consumption of cariogenic foods, especially cariogenic beverages, than those without caries.