Modelling Analysis on Dietary Patterns and Oral Health Status among Adolescents

Adolescence is a crucial stage between childhood and adulthood during which an individual learns new behaviours and practices including dietary patterns. This study aimed to examine the diet and oral health status among adolescents, and employed a structured questionnaire with three sections, namely, demographic, Adolescents' Food Habits Checklist (AFHC) and the Kayser-Jones Brief Oral Health Status Examination (BOHSE). The AFHC was formulated consisting of 23 items to collect information about dietary patterns with respect to food purchase, preparation and consumption habits. Meanwhile, the BOHSE contained nine items to evaluate the oral conditions of adolescents. The relationship between dietary pattern and oral health in adolescents was investigated. A total of 160 adolescents were randomly selected in this study. The data analysis was presented in the form of tables. This study adhered to the STROBE checklist's Guidelines for Systematic Reporting of Examination. According to the findings, food consumption dietary patterns among adolescents had the highest mean score (4.475). This demonstrates that adolescents practiced healthy food consumption. A significant positive correlation was found between food purchase, food preparation, food consumption and dietary patterns. Moreover, females had a slightly higher mean score than males, showing that females have a healthier diet status than males. This study can serve as points of reflection and recommendations on dietary patterns and oral health status.