Association between early childhood caries and malnutrition in a sub-urban population in Nigeria

BMC Pediatrics

Table 2 Association between ECC and sex, age, socioeconomic status, maternal knowledge of caries prevention, frequency of consumption of sugar, oral hygiene status and malnutrition (N = 370)

Variables	ECC status				Test of Association
	Absent (N = 352)		Present (N = 18)
	N	%	N	%
Sex
Male	196	55.68	7	38.89	X² p-value	1.95 0.16
Female	156	44.32	11	61.11	X² p-value	1.95 0.16
Age Group
6–23 months	46	13.07	0	0.00	X² p-value	11.69 0.02*
24–35 months	74	21.02	0	0.00
36–47 months	83	23.58	5	27.78
48–59 months	68	19.32	8	44.44
60–71 months	81	23.01	5	27.78
Socioeconomic Status
High	77	21.88	6	33.33	X² p-value	3.36 0.19
Middle	157	44.60	4	22.23
Low	118	33.52	8	44.44
Mother’s Knowledge of Oral Health
Poor	109	30.97	6	33.33	X² p-value	0.05 0.83
Good	243	69.03	12	66.67	X² p-value	0.05 0.83
Frequency of Sugar Consumption in Between Meals
< 3 times daily	297	84.38	13	72.22	X² p-value	1.86 0.17
≥ 3 times daily	55	15.62	5	27.78	X² p-value	1.86 0.17
Oral Hygiene Status
Good	248	70.45	10	65.56	X² p-value	2.24 0.29
Fair	96	27.27	8	44.44
Poor	8	2.28	0	0.00
Wasting (WAZ)
Normal	287	81.53	16	88.89	Exact test p-value	-0.75
Wasted	65	18.47	2	11.11	Exact test p-value	-0.75
Stunting (HAZ)
Normal	234	66.48	16	88.89	Exact test p-value	-0.07
Stunted	118	33.52	2	11.11	Exact test p-value	-0.07
Underweight/Overweight (WHZ)
Normal	316	89.78	14	77.78	X² p-value	3.14 0.16
Underweight	18	5.11	2	11.11
Overweight	18	5.11	2	11.11

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