Obesity and dental caries in children: Are there more common determinants than diet?

Objective: To examine common risk factors and determinants for overweight/obesity and dental caries in the family setting of children between the ages of 0 and 11 years of age.
Methods: A conceptual framework on the social determinants of childhood dental caries and overweight/obesity was developed in this study based on previous literature. It was tested through a qualitative study (Study 1), consisting of semi-structured interviews with parents of obese children in Sheffield and a quantitative study (Study 2) using structural equation modelling (SEM) with data from the Born in Bradford Cohort Study (BIB), dental general anaesthetics (GA) and data from the oral health survey of 5-year-old children 2014/2015 of the same population.
Results: Study 1: 13 parents participated in the interviews with a total of 15 children. 8/15 children had previous experience of dental caries. All children were classified as obese. Parents highlighted a diet high in sugar affecting dental caries and overweight/obesity in children. In addition, weather and neighbourhood safety were mentioned as important factors related to physical activity and therefore overweight/obesity prevention.
Study 2: 171 children were included in the analysis, 136/171 (GA treatment), 35/171 (oral health survey of five-year-old children 2014-15) with an average dmft of 9.1 and 0.9 respectively. 23.4% of all children were overweight/obese. 46.2% of the sample were male. Six determinants were found to be significant for both childhood dental caries and overweight/obesity: frequency of drinking sugar-sweetened beverages, sex, emotional and behavioural well-being of the child, level of deprivation, caregivers feeding style, and maternal alcohol consumption.
Conclusion: Six common risk factors and determinants for childhood dental caries and overweight/obesity were identified. Parents of obese children confirmed the influence of a high sugary diet on childhood dental caries and overweight/obesity.