BMI status in Swedish children and young adults in relation to caries prevalence

Overweight and obesity are increasing as health problems at global level. Dental caries and obesity are both multifactorial diseases and are associated with dietary habits. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between body weight status and caries prevalence in an unselected population followed from pre-school years to young adulthood. The present investigation was designed as a longitudinal analysis of the association between overweight/obesity and dental caries in one population at 3, 6, 15 and 20 years of age. The result shows that adolescents (15 years) and young adults (20 years) who are overweight/obese had a statistically significantly higher caries prevalence than normal-weight young people. At 6 years of age, the odds (OR) of having caries among obese children are 2.5 times higher than the odds for caries among six-year-old children of normal weight (p = 0.04). At 3 years of age, no association between overweight/obesity and caries was found. To conclude, overweight and obese adolescents and young adults had more caries than normal-weight individuals. The present study emphasises the need for multidisciplinary approaches to change the lifestyle factors causing both overweight/obesity and dental caries.