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Effect of undernutrition on deciduous tooth emergence among Rajput children of Shimla District of Himachal Pradesh, India
Author(s) -
Gaur Rajan,
Kumar Pawan
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.22041
Subject(s) - anthropometry , underweight , deciduous teeth , malnutrition , demography , deciduous , deciduous dentition , dentistry , geography , permanent teeth , medicine , biology , body mass index , ecology , sociology , archaeology , pathology , overweight
Abstract This article examines the influence of nutritional status on the emergence of deciduous dentition in a cross‐sectional sample of 510 rural Rajput children from the Jubbal and Kotkhai Tehsils, Shimla District, Himachal Pradesh, India. The nutritional status of each child was evaluated using Z ‐scores of height/supine length‐for‐age (HAZ), weight‐for‐age (WAZ), and weight‐for‐height (WHZ). The effects of sex and side on deciduous dental emergence were not statistically significant. Partial correlation indicates that the number of emerged teeth ( T ) was more strongly correlated with height than with other anthropometric variables. In most age groups, the stunted boys and girls (HAZ <−2) had fewer emerged teeth than nonstunted age peers (HAZ >−2). The mean T in underweight children was also less than that of the normal children, with a few exceptions. The stunted children have a significantly greater likelihood ofdelayed emergence of deciduous dentition. Measures of linear growth status are more closely related to dental development than measures of growth in mass. The findings indicate that even moderate undernutrition can delay deciduous tooth emergence. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.