Relationship Between Dental Caries Status, Nutritional
Status, Snack Foods, and Sugar-Sweetened Beverages
Consumption Among Primary Schoolchildren Grade 4-6
in Nongbua Khamsaen School, Na Klang District,
Nongbua Lampoo Province, Thailand
Juthamas Lueangpiansamut DDS*, Supaporn Chatrchaiwiwatana PhD**,
Benja Muktabhant PhD***, Warangkana Inthalohit MPH****
Affiliation :
* Na Klang Hospital, Nongbua Lampoo Province, Thailand
** Faculty of Dentistry, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
*** Faculty of Public Health, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
**** Nongbua Lampoo Provincial Health Office, Nongbua Lampoo, Thailand
Objective : To evaluate relationship between dental caries status, nutritional status, snack foods, and sugar-sweetened
beverages consumption among primary schoolchildren grade 4-6 in Na Klang district, Nongbua Lampoo province, Thailand
in 2011.
Material and Method: The subjects included 111 children (57 boys and 54 girls), aged 11 and 12 years, who were studying
in grades 4 to 6 in the year 2011. The data were collected through questionnaires, interview, and oral examination. Results
were obtained by means of descriptive, bivariate, and multiple logistic regression analyses.
Results : Prevalence of dental caries in the children was 82.9% with the mean DMFT of 2.28. The dental caries prevalence
in permanent and primary dentitions was 69.4% and 34.2%, respectively. About 10.2% of the children were underweight,
13.0% were obese, and 7.5% were stunting. Findings from the final multiple logistic regression models showed that weight-
for-age malnutrition as well as eating sweets before bedtime were significantly related to dental caries in primary dentition,
with the adjusted odds ratio (95% CI) being 6.68 (1.57, 28.41) and 5.34 (1.60, 17.77), respectively. Family income was
significantly related to permanent dental caries with the odds ratio (95% CI) being 9.60 (1.89, 48.59).
Conclusion : Nutritional status is associated with dental caries among these elementary schoolchildren. Larger studies
extending to cover other elementary schools in Na Klang district should be conducted so that the results will be representative
of all elementary schools in Na Klang district, Nongbua Lampoo province.
Keywords : Dental caries, Nutritional status, Schoolchildren, Thailand
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