A Study to Correlate Dental Caries and Food Habits among Primary School Children in Selected Schools in Honnavar, Uttara Kannada

Abstract

Background: Approximately 2 billion people worldwide have tooth decay in their permanent teeth, and 514 million children have tooth decay in their teeth. The risk of tooth decay increases as its frequency increases, sugar and food intake increases, and it tends to remain in tissues for longer periods of time. This study aims to establish the link between dental diseases and diet among primary school children in selected schools in Honnavar, North Kannada. Methodology: The study was started with finding the prevalence rate of dental caries among the primary school children and it was 103 (76.29%). The study proceeded with 103 primary school children of govt. lower primary school in Gunaguni and Prabhat Nagar. The nature of dental caries was assessed with a checklist of five different categories and food habits of the children was measured by 4-point Likert’s scale with 20 items. Non-randomized convenient sampling was used. Data collection was proceeded after obtaining permission from the authorities and ethical clearance from the institutional ethical committee, the data collected from 17/02/2023 to 21/02/2023. The data was analysed with descriptive and inferential statistics. The relationship was established by using Karl Pearson’s coefficient correlation. Results: In the study, majority of level of dental caries among primary school children 68 (65.01%) belongs to moderate, 28 (27.1%) belongs to severe and 7(6.79%) belongs to mild. The level of food habits among primary school children: 72 (69.90%) have healthy, 25 (24.27%) have very healthy and 6 (5.82%) have unhealthy. The correlation was found with Karl Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Since r- value (101, N=103) =0.336, P=0.195) is 0.336 greater than the P value at 0.05 level of significance (0.195). Conclusion: At the end of data analysis with statistical evidence, the present study concluded that there is a significant relationship between them at 0.05 level of significance and the Null Hypothesis is rejected (H0). Recommendation: Conducting similar research studies in future will be a source for uplifting the young children free from dental caries and other forms of oral diseases.