Assessment of Problematic Eating Behaviour and Dental Caries in Children

Summary Background/Aim: Eating behaviour in children has wide range from anorexia, to selective eating, fussy eater, neophobic/pouching of food & slow eating. Eating behaviour in childhood has been implicated in the development of dental caries and further affecting the body mass index of the child. The aim was to assess the Problematic Eating Behaviour (PEB) and its association with dental caries status of the child. Material and Methods: Parents of 150 children between 3-8 years of age were divided into 2 groups, Group A (3-5 years) and Group B (6-8 years). The parents completed the Children’s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) & the child’s dental caries status was recorded. The collected data was subjected to statistical analysis using unpaired t test & Pearson’s correlation coefficient test. Results: The results showed that the dental caries status was significantly higher in younger age group (3-5 years) than older age group (6-8 years). Further evaluating the PEB using CEBQ, there was no significant relation found between PEB and dental caries in younger age group of children (3-5 years), but in the older age group (6-8 years) the Factor 4 Desire to Drink (p=0,274) and Factor 5 Satiety Responsiveness (p=0,291) were significantly associated to the dental caries. Conclusions: Eating behaviour can contribute to the development of caries and this has been successfully studied with the use of CEBQ in the present study.