The Association of Weight Status with Dental Caries and Trachoma Among School Children in Cities of Changsha and Shenzhen, China

Jian Liu* and Hongzhuan Tan

The Association of Weight Status with Dental Caries and Trachoma Among School Children in Cities of Changsha and Shenzhen, China.

The global accelerated increase in obesity among children and adolescents is alarming. Dental
caries and trachoma are two common diseases among children in developing countries as well
as among children from economically disadvantaged rural and aboriginal areas. Information
regarding the relationship between obesity and these two diseases of childhood is inconclusive
or scarce. For dental caries, some studies showed a positive relationship, but others show
no relationship or even an inverse relationship. Our search turned up no study having
examined the relationship between childhood obesity and trachoma. Since the prevalence
of childhood obesity is on the rise and both dental caries and trachoma are prevalent among
Chinese children, it is worth understanding whether and what relationship might exist between
obesity and these two diseases when we keep intervention in mind.

Although, this is not the first study to find a negative relationship between weight status and dental caries we believe this to be the first report of a “U” shaped relationship between weight status and trachoma. The underlying mechanism that accounts for this remains uncertain. It is biologically quite plausible that childhood obesity could correlate with dental caries since they share risk factors, e.g., too much free sugar intake, though the evidence to support such a hypothesis is
weak and inconclusive. The relationship between weight status and dental caries among children may be more complicated than we think.

Epidemiol Open J. 2017; 2(1): 19-23. doi: 10.17140/EPOJ-2-110

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