Ultra-processed foods and early childhood caries in 0–3‐year‐olds enrolled at Primary Healthcare Centers in Southern Brazil
Maurício Santos de Souza, Juliana dos Santos Vaz, Thaís Martins‐Silva, Rafael Aiello Bomfim, Andréia Morales Cascaes
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between ultra-processed food consumption and early childhood caries. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a cluster randomised controlled study. Outcomes included the prevalence of children with non-cavitated and cavitated caries. The main exposure was the total daily consumption of ultra-processed foods (up to three times and four times or more), assessed through a FFQ. Potential confounders were socio-demographic characteristics of the child and caregiver/family, child breast-feeding, oral hygiene and use of dental services. Poisson regression using robust variance adjustment was used to estimate prevalence ratios (PR) and their respective 95 % CI. SETTING: Primary Healthcare Centers in an urban area of Pelotas, Southern Brazil. PARTICIPANTS: Children aged 0-3 years (n 309). RESULTS: Consumption of ultra-processed foods four times or more a day was found in 67·6 % of children; 24·4 and 12·0 % presented non-cavitated and cavitated caries, respectively. After adjustment, children who consumed ultra-processed foods four times or more a day were more likely to present both non-cavitated caries (PR 2·25, 95 % CI 1·19, 4·27, P = 0·013) and cavitated caries (PR 3·48, 95 % CI 1·18, 10·30, P = 0·024) compared with those who have consumed them up to three times a day. CONCLUSIONS: Consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with early childhood caries. Interventions aiming at reducing ultra-processed food consumption should be implemented to improve children's oral health.