A gravidade da cárie está associada à desnutrição proteico-calórica em pré-escolares? Is the severity of caries associated with malnutrition in preschool children?

An analysis was conducted to evaluate if the severity of caries is associated with protein- calorie malnutrition in preschool children. The cross-sectional study was performed on a retro- spective cohort of 625 children aged 24-71 months attending daycare centers in Sao Luis, Maranhao. A hierarchical model was evaluated at five levels: 1.) Socio-economic variables (economic group, mother's educational level and skin color); 2) Ac- cess variables; 3) Low birth weight (LBW) and exclusive breastfeeding; 4) Weight per height at 12 months; and 5) Severity of caries and albu- min (Alb) levels. The outcome was protein-calo- rie malnourishment (weight per height z score < -2). The prevalence of outcome was 5.0% and the prevalence of caries was 32%. At the first level, the variables were not associated with the out- come, but the economic group was maintained until the final model. The variables in the second and third levels were not significant. At the fourth level, weight for height at 12 months was not sig- nificant, but was maintained until the final model. In the last level, severity of caries was positively associated with malnourishment. The associa- tion between severity of caries and malnourish- ment suggest that oral health should be integrat- ed with public health care policies for children.