Exploring the risk factors for early-life sugar consumption: A birth cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Sugar consumption in early childhood is the primary cause of negative health outcomes, including early childhood caries. AIM: To investigate risk factors associated with early-life sugar consumption. DESIGN: Explanatory variables were collected at baseline of a birth cohort in Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil. At six months of age, data were collected on child feeding practices, including the number of foods and beverages containing sugar. Multivariate Poisson regression analysis with robust variance was performed. RESULTS: Virtually all children (98.3%) had consumed sugar by the age of 6 months. Multivariable analysis showed that the number of sweet items was significantly larger in children whose mothers were less than 20 years of age (MR = 1.19; 95% CI: 1.05-1.36), those from non-nuclear families (MR = 1.12; 95% CI: 1.04-1.20), those whose mothers had less than eight years of schooling (MR = 1.34; 95% CI: 1.20-1.50) and those whose mothers smoked (MR = 1.23; 95% CI: 1.13-1.35). Moreover, the number of sweet items was significantly lower among children who breastfed in the first hour of life (MR = 0.85; 95% CI: 0.76-0.95). CONCLUSION: Sugar consumption begins very early, especially in children with no access to breastfeeding in the first hours of life and those from younger, less educated, and smoking mothers.

Factors Associated with the Occurrence of Distoclusion in the Primary Dentition: A Hierarchical Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to identify factors associated with the occurrence of distoclusion among preschool children in southern Brazil. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was carried out with a sample of 1026 children aged two to five years enrolled at public preschools in the city of Canoas, Southern Brazil. Interviews were held with parents/caregivers to acquire demographic, socioeconomic and behavioral data. Six examiners who had undergone a training and calibration exercise performed the oral examinations. Distoclusion was recorded when the cusp of the maxillary canine was in an anterior relation to the distal surface of the mandibular canine during centric occlusion. Statistical analysis involved simple and multivariate Poisson regression with robust variance. RESULTS: The prevalence of distoclusion was 36.5% (375/1026). This condition was more frequent in younger children, those classified as white or brown, those who were breastfed for a shorter period of time, those who used a pacifier and those who were bottle fed. The multivariate analysis demonstrated that the likelihood of exhibiting distoclusion was greater among two-year-olds (P=0.038), three-year-olds (P=0.023), those classified as white (P=0.016), those who used a pacifier (P<0.001) and those who used to use a pacifier (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Counseling with regard to the duration of pacifier use could contribute toward reducing the prevalence of distoclusion and its consequences in preschool children.