Findings

What do systematic reviews say?

3 questions · 5 findings · 1 reviews · Dental caries

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No studies found 0 · 0%GRADE not reported 5 · 100%Very low 0 · 0%Low 0 · 0%Moderate 0 · 0%High 0 · 0%

Early childhood caries / severe early childhood caries vs Caries-free controls

Change in height-for-age z score · Children aged ≤6 years (early childhood)

The association between baseline caries and declining height-for-age persisted after adjustment (coefficient -0.02); ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

The bi-directional relationship between growth stunting and early childhood caries: a rapid review. 2023 All outcomes
~9.73-month follow-up · China (preschool children) · Shen et al. 2019 (China; adjusted)
Regression coefficient -0.02 [-0.04, 0.01]
1 study · 1111 participants
GRADE not reported

Early childhood caries / severe early childhood caries vs Caries-free controls

Stunting · Children aged ≤6 years (early childhood)

One Nepalese cross-sectional study found caries severity significantly correlated with chronic malnutrition/stunting (HAZ; p<0.0001), especially in rural children; ungraded, no effect size reported.

3 findings from 1 review

The bi-directional relationship between growth stunting and early childhood caries: a rapid review. 2023 All outcomes
Nepal (urban and rural) · Tsang et al. 2019 (Nepal)
The severity of child caries measured by the dmft index correlated with mouth pain and both chronic (stunting) and acute malnutrition (HAZ score) (p<0.0001).
1 study · 836 participants
GRADE not reported
The bi-directional relationship between growth stunting and early childhood caries: a rapid review. 2023 All outcomes
Vietnam (south and central; ages 1-6) · Khanh et al. 2015 (Vietnam; pulp-involved caries)
MD 0.66
1 study · 593 participants
GRADE not reported
The bi-directional relationship between growth stunting and early childhood caries: a rapid review. 2023 All outcomes
1-year follow-up · Cambodia (children <24 months at baseline) · Renggli et al. 2021 (Cambodia)
OR 1.8 [1.0, 3.0]
1 study · 1307 participants
GRADE not reported

Early childhood caries / severe early childhood caries vs Caries-free controls

Risk of malnutrition (younger children, 6 months to 6 years) · Children aged ≤6 years (early childhood)

One Nepalese cross-sectional study found no significant association between severe ECC and malnutrition risk in children under 6 (mean difference 0.13, p=0.609); ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

The bi-directional relationship between growth stunting and early childhood caries: a rapid review. 2023 All outcomes
Nepal · Zahid et al. 2020 (Nepal; children 6 months-6 years)
MD 0.13 [-0.64, 0.38]
1 study · 273 participants
GRADE not reported