Associação prospectiva entre consumo de açúcar e cárie na primeira infância

Abstract

This thesis aimed to evaluate the prospective association between sugar consumption and caries in early childhood, through three studies. The first study evaluated the association between the trajectory of sugar consumption and dental caries in the Pelotas Birth Cohort 2015, using the data with follow-up data at 3, 12, 24 and 48 months. The second study verified the association between the introduction of sugar in the infant diet and caries in early childhood, also in the 2015 Pelotas Birth Cohort. The third article was a systematic review that sought to identify cohort studies on the association between sugar consumption and dental caries in early childhood. The trajectory of sugar consumption from 3 to 48 months (always low, always intermediate, increasing and always high), obtained by group-based trajectory modeling, was the exposition of the first article. The outcome of this study was dental caries, obtained through clinical examination performed by calibrated dentists at 48 months of age. There was a significant association between the trajectory of sugar consumption and dental caries at 48 months. Children with increasing and always high consumption of sugar had a higher prevalence of caries. In the second article, to assess the period of life in which sugar was introduced, precocity ranges were considered (before 12 months, from 12 to 24 months, after 24 months). A significant association was found between the early introduction of sugar and caries in early childhood. Caries experience was 48% higher in the group introduced before 12 months of age compared to those where sugar was introduced after 24 months of age. For the third article, a systematic literature search was carried out on cohort studies of the association between sugar consumption and early childhood caries, in the main databases in the health area. Applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 16 articles were selected to compose the systematic review. Most articles included (n=14) in the review found an association between the consumption of sweet foods or drinks and early childhood caries.