Non-Cochrane · aetiology · PM41259577
Sugar consumption and early childhood caries: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.
Echeverria Mariana Silveira, Mathias Fernanda Burkert, Schuch Helena Silveira, et al. · Brazilian oral research · 2025 · PubMed · doi:10.1590/1807-3107bor-2025.vol39.122
Full textEvery question was extracted from the full text, figures and supplements by two independent LLM extractors, disagreements adjudicated. Rows cite where in the review the value comes from.
Questions
1
current version
GRADE rated
0
No studies
0
Included studies
17
linked below
No studies 0 · 0%Ungraded 1 · 100%Very low 0 · 0%Low 0 · 0%Moderate 0 · 0%High 0 · 0%
Ungraded means an effect was reported without a GRADE rating; it is not a gap. No studies means the review found nothing to answer the question. The six categories are a display order, not a score.
Review question
| Element | Planned (methods) | Found (results) |
|---|---|---|
| Population | Children under 6 years of age | Children under 6 years of age; 17 cohort studies from Europe (n=5), Brazil (n=5), Asia (n=4), Australia (n=3), USA (n=1); sample sizes 170 to 31,202 |
| Intervention | Sugar intake / sugar consumption (main exposure) | Sugar consumption measured variously: high frequency of sugars (8 studies), weekly frequency (2), daily frequency (4), 24-h recall/food diaries (several), timing of sugar introduction (3), consumption patterns/trajectories (4) |
| Comparison | No sugar consumption | No/lower sugar consumption (reference groups varied by study) |
| Outcomes | Early childhood caries (ECC) | Early childhood caries; 11 studies included initial (white spot) lesions, 6 only cavitated lesions; measured by ICDAS (4), dmfs (7), Pitts criteria (1), unspecified (5); assessed 9 months to 5 years of age |
| Study designs | Cohort (longitudinal) studies | 17 cohort studies included (n=9 provided sufficient data for meta-analysis) |
| Timing | Not specified | Outcome (ECC) assessed from 9 months to 5 years of age |
Search date: December 2020 to May 2025. Databases: Bireme; Pubmed/Medline; Scielo; Scopus; Web of Science
Questions and results
Sugar consumption (higher sugar intake) vs No sugar consumption (lower/no intake)
Population: Children under 6 years of age
| Outcome | Effect | Evidence | Status / GRADE |
|---|---|---|---|
Early childhood caries (ECC) Outcome (ECC) assessed from 9 months to 5 years of age · Overall (all 9 meta-analyzed studies pooled) Higher sugar consumption is associated with early childhood caries in children under 6 years: pooled OR 1.59 (95% CI 1.50 to 1.68) from 9 cohort studies with no heterogeneity (I2=0%); the body of evidence was not GRADE-rated (ungraded). Source: Results, final paragraph; Figure 2 (forest plot, Overall DL diamond); Abstract · same question in other reviews | OR 1.59 [1.50, 1.68] | 9 studies | Ungraded |
Included primary studies 17
Open as a trial list| Study | Also included by | Outcomes it informs here | Trial PICO | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feldens et al. 2010 Early feeding practices and severe early childhood caries in four-year-old children from southern Brazil: a birth cohort study. PMID:20838043 | 1 other review | Early childhood caries (ECC) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Manohar et al. 2021 Impact of Dietary Trajectories on Obesity and Dental Caries in Preschool Children: Findings from the Healthy Smiles Healthy Kids Study. PMID:34209914 | 1 other review | Early childhood caries (ECC) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Peltzer et al. 2015 Severe early childhood caries and social determinants in three-year-old children from Northern Thailand: a birth cohort study. PMID:26370287 | 1 other review | Early childhood caries (ECC) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Watanabe et al. 2014 The influence of lifestyle on the incidence of dental caries among 3-year-old Japanese children. PMID:25489996 | 1 other review | Early childhood caries (ECC) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Amezdroz et al. 2019 Feasibility and development of a cariogenic diet scale for epidemiological research. PMID:30666740 | this review only | Early childhood caries (ECC) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Bernabe et al. 2020 Early Introduction of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Caries Trajectories from Age 12 to 48 Months. PMID:32374714 | this review only | Early childhood caries (ECC) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Chaffee et al. 2015 Feeding practices in infancy associated with caries incidence in early childhood. PMID:25753518 | this review only | Early childhood caries (ECC) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Chankanka et al. 2012 The associations between dietary intakes from 36 to 60 months of age and primary dentition non-cavitated caries and cavitated caries. PMID:23134446 | this review only | Early childhood caries (ECC) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Echeverria et al. 2022 Trajectories of Sugar Consumption and Dental Caries in Early Childhood. PMID:35114848 | this review only | Early childhood caries (ECC) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Echeverria et al. 2023 Early Sugar Introduction Associated with Early Childhood Caries Occurrence. PMID:36682347 | this review only | Early childhood caries (ECC) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Grindfjord et al. 1996 Stepwise prediction of dental caries in children up to 3.5 years of age. PMID:8773417 | this review only | Early childhood caries (ECC) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Grytten et al. 1988 Longitudinal study of dental health behaviors and other caries predictors in early childhood. PMID:3203494 | this review only | Early childhood caries (ECC) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Ha et al. 2023 Trajectories of child free sugars intake and dental caries - a population-based birth cohort study. PMID:37230240 | this review only | Early childhood caries (ECC) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Hu et al. 2019 Infant dietary patterns and early childhood caries in a multi-ethnic Asian cohort. PMID:30696871 | this review only | Early childhood caries (ECC) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Persson et al. 1985 Infant feeding and dental caries--a longitudinal study of Swedish children. PMID:3866336 | this review only | Early childhood caries (ECC) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Thitasomakul et al. 2009 Risks for early childhood caries analyzed by negative binomial models. PMID:19278984 | this review only | Early childhood caries (ECC) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Wendt et al. 1995 Dietary habits related to caries development and immigrant status in infants and toddlers living in Sweden. PMID:8849865 | this review only | Early childhood caries (ECC) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
Overlap with other reviews
Reviews that include the same primary studies are not independent evidence. Shared counts match studies by PMID, DOI or NCT, and otherwise by author and year (a probable match).