Abstract
Background and aims. Childhood obesity has been associated with high refined sugar intake. The
relationship between sucrose intake and development of dental caries has been established. The aim of
this study was to determine the association between age-specific body mass index (BMI-for-age) and
dental caries in children.
Materials and methods. In this cross-sectional study a total of 1003 children were screened.
Weight, height, BMI-for-age and dental caries of 633 (317 boys, 316 girls) 6-11-year-old children were
clinically examined for dental caries using the World Health Organization criteria by a dentist on a dental
chair. Decayed and filled teeth (DFT/dft) indices were used. BMI-for-age and dental caries were analyzed
with multiple linear regression, chi-square, and t-tests using SPSS computer software.
Results. The findings showed that 16% of the children had a normal weight, 16.9% were at risk of
overweight, and 67.1% were overweight. In the normal weight, at risk of overweight, and overweight
groups, the mean ± SE for DFT were 0.34 ± 0.08, 1.23 ± 0.13 and 0.73 ± 0.05, respectively; and 2.01 ±
0.19, 2.76 ± 0.18 and 2.59 ± 0.13 respectively, for dft. Multiple linear regression showed that there was
no statistically significant association between BMI-for-age and DFT (R = 0.06) and dft (R = 0.07) indices.
27.7%, 14% and 37.2% of children with normal weight, at risk of overweight and with overweight
were caries free, respectively. There was statistically significant association between BMI-for-age and
being caries free (p = 0.0001).
Conclusion. There was no association between BMI-for-age and DFT/dft indices. In addition, a high
prevalence of at risk of overweight and overweight was seen among 6-11-year-old children in Isafahan,
Iran.