ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effects of end time of night feeding on body height, body weight, nutritional status, and prevalence rate of dental caries in children at the age of 30 months.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 416 children who were born from January 2014 to September 2015 and had completed a physical examination as required were enrolled. During the physical examination performed at the age of 30 months, the comprehensive child care record and a self-made questionnaire were used. The children who continued to receive night feeding after the age of 6 months were enrolled as study group (n=269), and those for whom night feeding was ended at the age of 6 months were enrolled as control group (n=147). The two groups were compared in terms of body height, body weight, incidence rate of overweight/obesity, and prevalence rate of dental caries at the age of 30 months.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the control group, the study group had a significantly lower body height (92.4±3.0 cm vs 93.3±2.8 cm; P<0.05), a significantly higher incidence rate of overweight/obesity (23.8% vs 12.2%; P<0.05), and a significantly higher prevalence rate of dental caries (14.9% vs 7.5%; P<0.05) at the age of 30 months.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Night feeding continued after the age of 6 months can affect the growth and development of infants/toddlers, cause overnutrition, and increase the prevalence rate of dental caries.</p>