Association between feeding practices and Early Childhood Caries among Anganwadi children in Bangalore District

Introduction: Early Childhood Caries (ECC) is a significant public health problem with consequences for the growth and development of affected children. Objective: To determine the association of feeding practices and Early Childhood Caries among Anganwadi children in Bangalore District. Materials and Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted among 200 mother-child pairs in Anganwadis in Bangalore District. Socio-demographic information, feeding practices were collected from the mothers through interview. The children underwent dental examination and the dmft index was recorded at the age of three years. Results: Majority of the participants reported Breast Feeding [144(72%)]. Overall most of the participants reported duration of breast feeding from 13-14 months [94(47%)] followed by 7-12 months [90(45%)]. In this study, 30(15%) children had caries experience( dmft≥1). Mean caries experience of the children was 0.64±1.64 [dt=0.64±1.64;mt=0;ft=0]. There was no statistically significant association between dental caries and type of feeding practices [0.6477 (95% CI 0.2809-1.4937)] and duration of breast feeding [1.2687 (95% CI 0.5708-2.8198)]. Conclusions: There was no association of feeding practices and Early Childhood Caries among Anganwadi children in Bangalore District. There is need to increase awareness among the public about ECC and institute preventive strategies