Assesment of the effect on oral health status and halitosis of obesity in children

Obesity is defined as the increase in body fat ratio above the normal values. The fact that obesity is a common problem in all over the world has led to an increase in studies investigating its effects on both general and oral/dental health. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the effect of overweighing and obesity on oral health and halitosis in children. 295 children aged 10-13, referred to Hacettepe University, Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Pediatric Dentistry participated in the study. In the first step, the parents were requested to fill out questionnaires involving questions regarding both the parents and the children. The oral and dental health status of the children were evaluated and height-weight-waist circumference and halitosis measurements were performed. The oral health status was evaluated by dmft/s, DMFT/S and ICDAS II indices, plaque index, gingival index, and Winkel tongue coating index. Halitosis was determined by sulphur monitoring method. The obtained data was analyzed statistically using Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test and Mann-Whitney U test (p<0,05). The mean age of 136 boys and 159 girls participated in the study was 11.63 ± 1.05. One hundred and eleven (37.6%) children were classified as overweight-obese-morbid obese, whereas 84 (62.4%) children were classified as underweight-normal weight. No statistically significant difference was found regarding DMFT / DMFS, dmft / dmfs, ICDAS II, plaque and gingival indices between the underweight-normal weight group and the overweight-obese-morbid obese group. In terms of halitosis, there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups. 24.3% of the children in the overweight-obese-morbid obese group and 14.7% of the children belonging to the underweight-normal weight group had halitosis. Although there was a statistically significant relation between tongue coating and halitosis in the underweight-normal weight group, this relation was not statistically significant in the overweight-obese-morbid obese group. In the light of all these findings, it was concluded that overweighing and obesity can cause halitosis in children and dentists should be aware of that issue.