ASSOCIATION BETWEEN EARLY CHILDHOOD CARIES AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS IN CHILDREN IN A PERUVIAN SOCIAL PROGRAM. A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Introduction: Early childhood caries is still very prevalent, mainly in developing countries, and it is related to the quality of life of children due to early tooth loss. Objective: The study objective was to determine the association between dental caries and its clinical consequences on nutritional status in children of the “Vaso de Leche (Glass of Milk)’’ social program, in Puno City, Peru, during the year 2020. Materials and Methods: An observational, descriptive-correlational, cross-sectional study; the sample consisted of 740 children between 1 and 5 years old who met the selection criteria; the clinical consequences of untreated dental caries were evaluated using the PUFA index and the prevalence of caries with def-t; the nutritional status was determined by the weight and height of the child according to protocols (NTS No. 357-MINSA /2017/ DGIESP); the data were analyzed with the SPSS-v25 program, the association between variables was evaluated with the chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman’s Rho test, considering significance at a p-value <0.05. Results: No significant relationship was found when dental caries was evaluated with the nutritional condition (p<0.05). However, when the def-t index values were related to the nutritional condition of the children, a significant difference was found (p<0.05). There was no significant difference with the PUFA index (p>0.05). Conclusions: There is no association between early childhood caries and nutritional status in children aged between 3 and 5 years; however, a significant relationship was found between the values of the def-t index and the nutritional status of the children.