Maternal Control of the Child's Feeding, Child's Eating Behavior and Early Childhood Caries in Preschoolers

• Conditions: Dental Caries in Children; Diet Habit; Dietary Exposure; Eating Behavior; Parent-Child Relations; Body Weight

• Registration Number: NCT06898918
• Lead Sponsor: Ain Shams University

Brief Summary

Dental caries in children is considered one of the most prevalent oral diseases of this age group, leading to significant manifestations presenting as pain, interference with feeding, higher risk of developing dental caries in both, primary and permanent dentition. Dietary practices, along with the presence of bacteria in the oral cavity have been shown to be inextricably linked to the presence of dental caries. The latest evidence has demonstrated that certain types of eating behavioral traits in children could influence the development of dental caries.

Detailed Description

Dental caries in children is considered one of the most prevalent oral diseases of this age group, leading to significant manifestations presenting as pain, interference with feeding, higher risk of developing dental caries in both, primary and permanent dentition, as well as worse repercussions on the permanent successors. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) global oral health status report of 2022, 514 million children -worldwide- have been affected by dental caries in their primary teeth. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) refers to this type of dental caries in primary teeth as "early childhood caries" and defines it as the existence of one or more decayed, missed, or filled tooth surface due to dental caries in children less than six years of age.

It has been studied in depth that dental caries is a multi-factorial disease of a complex nature with behavioral, as well as social factors playing a vital role in its etiology. Dietary practices, along with the presence of bacteria in the oral cavity have been shown to be inextricably linked to the presence of dental caries. The latest evidence has demonstrated that certain types of eating behavioral traits in children could, in a way, influence the development of dental caries.

Moreover, family structure could be an additional, recently confirmed factor to contemplate in regards to the etiology of dental caries. For example, it has been shown that parents, as the primary caregiver of the child, could influence the eating habits of their preschool children. This could occur through parents choosing the food they consider "appropriate" for their child, modelling, creating specific patterns of feeding for the child and adopting particular food practices to reinforce eating behaviors in their children.

Several questionnaires that assess the child's eating behavioral traits as well as parental control of the child's feeding have been found in the literature, among which, the most frequently used are the "Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ)" and the "Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ)". Both questionnaires have been shown to have good psychometric properties and both have been validated and translated to Arabic language in recent studies.

Research suggests that evidence on the relationship between children's eating behavior and dental caries is scanty. Additionally, the association between parental control in child feeding and dental caries has been investigated in a limited number of studies. To our knowledge, to date, this type of research has not been previously conducted in Egypt. On that account, this study has been developed with the aim of investigating the relationship between parental control in child feeding, child's eating behavior and dental caries in a number of Egyptian preschool children.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2025-01-01
• Status Verified: 2025-03
• Study First Submitted: 2025-03-21
• Study First Submitted QC: 2025-03-21
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-03-21
• Study First Posted: 2025-03-27
• Last Update Posted: 2025-03-27
• Primary Completion: 2026-06-30
• Study Completion: 2027-03-30

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 208

Inclusion Criteria

• Egyptian mothers and preschool children pairs aging from 3-5 years old, and currently residing in Egypt.
• Mothers who live with the child in the same household

Exclusion Criteria

• Participants who refuse to consent to participate in the study.
• Mothers with any medical health condition (physical or mental) that interferes with responding to the questionnaires.
• Children with special health care needs (mental or physical).
• Medically compromised children (Diabetic, renal problems, liver problems, respiratory problems...etc.) as their condition or the medications they consume might interfere with their oral health status.
• Children whose siblings have previously participated in the study.

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Early childhood caries	January 2025 - June 2026	Early childhood caries will be assessed using decayed, missing, and filled tooth index (dmft)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Oral hygiene condition (oral debris)	January 2025 - March 2027	The Debris Index-Simplified (DI-S), a component of the Oral Hygiene Index-Simplified (OHI-S) by Silness and Loe will be used to evaluate the oral hygiene of children.; - Six index teeth will be assessed to obtain a final score: The labial/buccal surface of the primary maxillary right central incisor, primary mandibular left central incisor, primary maxillary right second molar, and primary maxillary left second molar. Whereas the lingual surface of the primary mandibular left and right second molar will be evaluated.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Faculty of Dentistry, Ain Shams University; 🇪🇬 Cairo, Egypt