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Dietary pattern of Finnish children with low and high caries experience
Author(s) -
KleemolaKujala Eija,
Räsänen Leena
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
community dentistry and oral epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.061
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1600-0528
pISSN - 0301-5661
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0528.1979.tb01216.x
Subject(s) - medicine , sugar , ascorbic acid , nutrient , added sugar , food group , dietary sucrose , dentistry , environmental health , food science , obesity , chemistry , organic chemistry
The correlations between dietary patterns and caries were studied in a series consisting of 534, 5‐, 9‐ and 13‐year‐old Finnish rural children from low‐fluoride areas (0.10–0.46 parts/10 6 ). The food consumption of the children was assessed by the 24‐hour recall method. The consumption of sweets was estimated by the dietary history method. Caries was diagnosed by clinical inspection. Children with a low and children with a high caries experience were compared with regard to food and nutrient intakes per 1000 kcal. The intakes of most foods and nutrients were similar in the low‐caries and in the high‐caries groups. However, the diet of the high‐caries groups of 5‐ and 13‐year‐olds contained less iron, thiamine and ascorbic acid than the diet of the low‐caries groups. The intake of sugar and sugar‐containing products per unit of energy was higher in the high‐caries groups. This was true for soft drinks in particular. Among the 9‐year‐olds the proportion of sugar consumed as such was greater in the high‐caries than in the low‐caries children. With regard to the total monthly consumption of sweets no significant differences were observed between the high‐ and low‐caries groups. Analysis of the energy‐standardized consumption of food and nutrients thus showed that the relative proportion of sugar and sugar‐containing products was somewhat greater in the diet of the high‐caries children than in the diet of the low‐caries children, but not as high as could be expected. These products replaced foods with a higher nutritive value with the result that the diet of the high‐caries groups was on the whole more refined than the diet of the low‐caries groups.