Caregiver-Reported Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption and Cavities in Children Aged 1 to 5 Years, National Survey of Children's Health 2021-2022.

Introduction: Dental cavities are a common chronic disease among US children. Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are the leading contributor of added sugars in children's diets. We assessed the prevalence and adjusted odds of a caregiver-reported cavity in the past 12 months by SSB consumption among children aged 1 to 5 years.

Methods: We used data from the 2021-2022 National Survey of Children's Health. Our sample comprised children aged 1 to 5 years who had seen an oral health provider in the past 12 months. An adult caregiver reported whether the child had a cavity in the past 12 months and how frequently they consumed SSBs in the past 7 days. Models were adjusted for age, sex, race and ethnicity, highest level of education among adults in the household, and household federal poverty level. We used multivariable logistic regression to examine the relationship between cavities and SSB consumption.

Results: Among 23,023 US children in our sample, 11.6% had a caregiver-reported cavity in the past 12 months. Approximately 37.3% of children were reported to drink no SSBs, 39.5% drank SSBs 1 to 3 times in the past week, and 23.3% drank SSBs 4 or more times in the past week. Compared with children who drank no SSBs, those who drank SSBs 1 to 3 times in the past week or 4 or more times in the past week had 1.7 (95% CI, 1.4-2.2) times and 2.8 (95% CI, 2.1-3.6) times higher adjusted odds, respectively, to have a caregiver-reported cavity.

Conclusion: Frequent SSB consumption is common among children aged 1 to 5 years and is associated with higher odds of having a cavity. These findings highlight the need for public health and dental professionals to promote the reduction of SSB intake and encourage healthier choices among very young children and their caregivers to help mitigate oral health issues.