Journal of the Korean Academy of Pediatric Dentistry 2010;37(2):193-201.
Published online May 31, 2010.
THE EFFECT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD CARIES ON HEIGHT AND BODY WEIGHT OF CHILDREN
Seunghye Kim, Hyung-Jun Choi, Byung-Jai Choi, Seong Oh Kim, Jae-Ho Lee
Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Oral Science Research Center, College of Dentistry, Yonsei University 
유아기 우식증이 어린이의 신장 및 체중에 미치는 영향
김승혜, 최형준, 최병재, 김성오, 이제호
연세대학교 치과대학 소아치과학교실 및 구강과학연구소
Correspondence:  Jae-Ho Lee,  Tel: 02-2228-3173, Email: leejh@yuhs.ac
Received: 12 January 2010   • Accepted: 7 May 2010
Abstract
Early childhood caries (ECC) is a comprehensive terminology that includes nursing bottle caries and rampant dental caries occurred in infants and children. In previous studies, ECC was thought to affect body growth of children negatively. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of ECC on body growth of children in respect of their chronologic age and degree of dental caries. Height and body weight were used as means for physical growth measurements. Children, who visited the pediatric department of Yonsei University Dental Hospital, received oral and physical examinations, and they were divided into the control and ECC groups. Then, each group was subdivided according to their age and gender. Two-sample T test was used to compare the mean height and body weight of the control and ECC groups, and Likelihood Ratio Chi-square test was used to compare their growth percentile distribution. When the mean height and weight were compared, there was a common tendency observed even though statistical significance was not found in all cases. Before the age of 3-4, the mean height and weight tended to be greater in the ECC groups compared to the control groups, whereas after the age of 3-4, the mean height and weight of the ECC group tended to be less compared to the control group. In addition, in groups with age equal or greater than 3-4, which presented significant difference in height and body weight, the percentage of children showing less than 3 percentile growth was greater in the ECC group than the control group. These results imply the negative effects of the ECC on physical growth of the infants and children, and its effects on physical growth may present different characteristics according to chronologic age of the patients.
Key Words: Early Childhood Caries, Height, Weight, Growth Percentile Distribution


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