Do glycemic index and glycemic load of diet contribute to early childhood caries in preschool children?
ISSN: 0034-6659
Article publication date: 22 June 2022
Issue publication date: 7 February 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine the potential association between the glycemic index (GI) and the glycemic load (GL) with early childhood caries in preschool children.
Design/methodology/approach
This cross-sectional study collected data from 225 children aged 37–71 months in governmental nursery schools within the Altindag district of Ankara, Turkey. GI and GL values of foods and beverages were calculated using 2008 international tables of GI and GL. Dental examinations were done under daylight and by using a headlight. The prevalence of caries was obtained by calculating the number of the decayed, missing and filled teeth (dmft) index score or decayed, missing and filled surface (dmfs) index score.
Findings
There were significant differences in the dmft and dmfs scores according to GI groups (p = 0.022 for both). The multivariate models showed that children who consumed a high-GI diet had higher dmft scores compared to children who consumed a medium-GI diet (ß 1.48, 95% CI −1.48, 4.44), whereas children who consumed a high-GL diet had lower dmft score compared to children who consumed low-GL diet (ß 0.55, 95% CI −0.97, 2.07), however, they were not statistically significant.
Originality/value
Dietary total GI and GL did not significantly influence the caries experience of preschool children. Future studies should focus on the different age groups with a broader perspective.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the study participants for their time. None of the authors reported a conflict of interest related to this study.
Author contributions: EIE and COO: contributed to conception and design of the study; EIE, REO and COO: collected the data; EIE: performed statistical analyses with guidance from ZB; EIE: drafted the initial manuscript; REO, MUT and ZB: provided critical revision of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Data availability statement: The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy restrictions.
Conflicts of interest disclosure: The authors declare no competing interests.
Funding statement: None.
Ethics approval statement: The ethical approval of the study was obtained from the Ethics Board of Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey (GO 13/513). The permission from the concerned educational authorities was obtained; the contact meetings with the parents were organized before the data collection and their written consent form in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration were provided.
Citation
Inan Eroglu, E., Ozkalayci, R.E., Ozsin Ozler, C., Uzamis-Tekcicek, M. and Buyuktuncer, Z. (2023), "Do glycemic index and glycemic load of diet contribute to early childhood caries in preschool children?", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 53 No. 2, pp. 391-401. https://doi.org/10.1108/NFS-02-2022-0035
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited