Evaluation of the relationship between children's eating behavior, parental feeding style, and oral health

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between eating behaviors and parental feeding styles with oral health indicators in preschool and early school-age children. Method: The study included 250 children aged 4 to 9 years and their parents. The oral and dental health of the children was assessed using the DMFT/dmft index, Gingival Index, and Debris Index. The Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) and the Parental Feeding Style Questionnaire (PFSQ) were completed by the parents. Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis H test, Monte Carlo corrected Fisher's Exact test, and Bonferroni corrected Z test were used for group comparisons. Path analysis was performed to evaluate the relationships between variables. Results: A very weak negative correlation was found between the child's age and emotional undereating score (r=-0.126; p=0.047). There were also statistically significant very weak negative correlations between the child's percentile and satiety responsiveness (r=-0.138; p=0.030) and slowness in eating (r=-0.185; p=0.003). No statistically significant relationship was found between DMFT/dmft, gingival and debris indices, and the subscales of CEBQ and PFSQ (p>0.05). There are significant positive and negative correlations between the subscales of the PFSQ and the CEBQ (p<0,05). According to the results of the path analysis, parental education level and the child's age were found to have an effect on oral health (p<0,05). Conclusion: In this study, no significant relationship was found between children's oral health and their eating behaviors or parental feeding styles. On the other hand, children's eating behaviors were found to be associated with parental feeding styles. This finding indicates that parental attitudes may play an important role in supporting healthy eating habits.