Association Between Nutritional Status and Dental Caries in Brazilian Teenagers with and without Risk for Eating Disorders

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between nutritional status and dental caries in Brazilian female adolescents with and without behavioral risk for eating disorders. Material and Methods: Cross-sectional study involving 60 girls, 15 to 18 years old, randomly selected from public and private schools. Risk behavior for eating disorder was assessed by the Bulimic Investigatory Test of Edinburgh, anthropometric measurements were taken to calculate the body mass index, dental examinations were performed to verify the caries experience and a questionnaire to collect sociodemographic data was applied. Data were analyzed descriptively and analytically using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 18.0 software. The level of statistical significance was set at 5%, with a 95% confidence interval. Results: Most of the girls studied in public school (75,0%), had no partner (95,0%) and had a monthly family income above the minimum wage (63,3%). The prevalence of dental caries was high (86.7%). The most used practice for weight loss was the act of purge (18.3%). There was no statistically significant association between dental caries and Body Mass Index (p= 0,655), however, it was observed that adolescents with high Body Mass Index had a higher risk for Eating Disorders (p< 0,05). Conclusion: The nutritional status was not associated with dental caries, however the monitoring of girls with high Body Mass Indexis important due to the increased risk of eating disorders.