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 outcomesNepal (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 participantsGRADE not reported
- The bi-directional relationship between growth stunting and early childhood caries: a rapid review. 2023 All outcomesVietnam (south and central; ages 1-6) · Khanh et al. 2015 (Vietnam; pulp-involved caries)MD 0.661 study · 593 participantsGRADE not reported
- The bi-directional relationship between growth stunting and early childhood caries: a rapid review. 2023 All outcomes1-year follow-up · Cambodia (children <24 months at baseline) · Renggli et al. 2021 (Cambodia)OR 1.8 [1.0, 3.0]1 study · 1307 participantsGRADE not reported