IADR Abstract Archives
Association Between Caries and Stunted Growth Among 2-Year-old Cambodian Children
Objectives: To explore the relationship between severe early childhood caries and chronic stunting malnutrition in Cambodia.
Methods: This was a secondary analysis of longitudinal data on 1307 children (51.7% females) <24 months of age at baseline (2017) and approximately one year older at follow-up (2018) from the Cambodian Health and Nutrition Monitoring Study (CAHENMS) and the added oral health component. Data were collected in 2 rural and 1 urban provinces, including parent interviews and child exams for dental status and anthropometric measures for nutritional status. Logistic regression modelling examined the associations between severe dental caries and the prevalence of new cases of stunting and wasting malnutrition at follow-up.
Results: At baseline, 51.9% of the children had caries and 39.9% presented stunted growth. The prevalence of caries at follow-up was 63.3% and 17.6% of the children transitioned from a healthy length- for-age to being stunted over the 1-year follow-up. Children who belong to the 1/3 with the highest number of caries prevalence, as defined by Significant Caries Index (ScI), had almost twice the risk (OR=1.8, CI 1.0-3.0, P=0.039) of presenting stunted growth after controlling for diet and sociodemographic characteristics. 8.9% of the children presented wasting at baseline and 5.2% transitioned from healthy status to a wasting condition over the observation period. Although not statistically significant in this sample (P=0.072), the children with ScI at baseline presented 1.9 OR of becoming wasted at follow-up.
Conclusions: Severe, untreated early childhood caries, with its consequent mouth pain and chronic inflammation, can interfere with early childhood feeding and growth, and be an under-investigated as well as an under-treated contributor to stunting malnutrition during early childhood. Further extended longitudinal studies are warranted to examine the complex relationship between severe early childhood caries and malnutrition.
Methods: This was a secondary analysis of longitudinal data on 1307 children (51.7% females) <24 months of age at baseline (2017) and approximately one year older at follow-up (2018) from the Cambodian Health and Nutrition Monitoring Study (CAHENMS) and the added oral health component. Data were collected in 2 rural and 1 urban provinces, including parent interviews and child exams for dental status and anthropometric measures for nutritional status. Logistic regression modelling examined the associations between severe dental caries and the prevalence of new cases of stunting and wasting malnutrition at follow-up.
Results: At baseline, 51.9% of the children had caries and 39.9% presented stunted growth. The prevalence of caries at follow-up was 63.3% and 17.6% of the children transitioned from a healthy length- for-age to being stunted over the 1-year follow-up. Children who belong to the 1/3 with the highest number of caries prevalence, as defined by Significant Caries Index (ScI), had almost twice the risk (OR=1.8, CI 1.0-3.0, P=0.039) of presenting stunted growth after controlling for diet and sociodemographic characteristics. 8.9% of the children presented wasting at baseline and 5.2% transitioned from healthy status to a wasting condition over the observation period. Although not statistically significant in this sample (P=0.072), the children with ScI at baseline presented 1.9 OR of becoming wasted at follow-up.
Conclusions: Severe, untreated early childhood caries, with its consequent mouth pain and chronic inflammation, can interfere with early childhood feeding and growth, and be an under-investigated as well as an under-treated contributor to stunting malnutrition during early childhood. Further extended longitudinal studies are warranted to examine the complex relationship between severe early childhood caries and malnutrition.