Dietary patterns, nutritional status, and dental caries in schoolchildren from Bagua Grande, Peruvian Amazon

Campodónico-Reátegui C.H.; Delgadillo-Avila J.; Moreno-Prieto V.; Porras-Roque M.S. · Revista Medica Electronica (2025)

Resumen

Introduction: Dental caries and child weight excess are major public health problems in vulnerable settings; in the Peruvian Amazonia, inadequate dietary patterns and limited access to preventive programs exacerbate them. Objective: To analyze the relationship between dietary patterns, nutritional status, and dental caries prevalence in schoolchildren from Bagua Grande, Amazonas. Methods: Cross-sectional observational study (December 2018-December 2019) using 310 school children. Anthropometric measurements, a 24-hour dietary recall, and an oral examination were performed, using the decayed, missing, and filled teeth index. Body mass index was classified using age- and sex-specific percentiles from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization. Absolute and relative frequencies were calculated. The Kruskal-Wallis test (age-caries) and chi-square test of homogeneity (diet-nutritional status) were applied. Results: 80.4% had poor/very poor diets. All participants consumed at least one item from the cereals/tubers group (main carbohydrate source), with a mean frequency of 4.55±1.53 times/day. Fruit intake was reported by 66.5%, and 40.3% reported vegetables intake. Nutritional status: 69.0% healthy weight, 16.5% overweight, 14.2% obesity. Dental caries prevalence was 88.1%, with an average of 2-3 decayed teeth per child. There was an association between age and dental caries, but not between dietary pattern and nutritional status, nor between energy intake and dental caries frequency. Conclusions: Schoolchildren exhibit energy-dense dietary habits, a high prevalence of dental caries and weight excess. Comprehensive school programs are required in the Amazonian regions, integrating nutritional education, anthropometric monitoring, and oral health promotion. © Los artículos de Revista Médica Electrónica de la Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de Matanzas se comparten bajo los términos de la Licencia Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial 4.0.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal; Universidad Nacional Jorge Basadre Grohmann