Risk factors

Background: Globally, dental caries is one of the most prevalent dental health problem that affects children. Its prevalence in Bureti division is not known.The objectives were to determine dental caries experience, prevalence and risk factors associated with dental caries among pre-school going children of Bureti Sub-County, Kericho County. Methods: The Study population was all pre-school going children aged 3-6 years. The study utilized cross sectional descriptive design that involved quantitative techniques. The teeth of the children was examined at that point in time by a qualified dentist and also their caregivers/paretns interviewed on oral health hygiene practices. The dmft scores was recorded. A proportionate stratified sampling technique was used to sample schools. Data was analysed using Stata version 12 and data presented in tables and graphs. Chi test was used to test for associations between outcome/dependent variables and independent variables. Regression analysis was done to establish significance of associations among dependent and independent variables. Results: The mean age of children was 53.22±17.29 months, with boys being majority (51.7%). The child age of starting brushing teeth was 3.5±0.94 years. Majority (63.88%) had dental caries. The mean dmft was 3.54±1.95 with the greatest component being decayed teeth (53.1%). Majority of the children (62.26%) brush teeth with tooth paste and brush at least once weekly (61.73%). The main risk factors for dental caries were mother’s occupation (OR=3.18), Eating of sugary foods (OR=2.49), lack of brushing (OR=3.08), bottle feeding (OR=7.17), and poor social demographics. Conclusion: The prevalence of dental caries was high (63.88%) and severe (mean dmft=3.54±1.9) which indicate high dental care treatment need. Consumption of sugary foods rich in cariogenic particles, poor social demographics of the caregivers, poor brushing of teeth, bottle feeding (p-value≤0.05) are associated with high dental caries prevalence and dental caries experience.

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the hypothesized risk factors associated with obesity among Libyan adolescents schooling in Malaysian Libyan schools representing primary, middle and high schools level education. A cross-sectional study was conducted by using a self-administered questionnaire to access the anthropometric parameters, physical activity, dietary intake, food habits, sedentary behavior’s and nutrition knowledge among 180 adolescents in Libyan Schools of Malaysia. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test, independent t-test, and ANOVA were performed on the collected data. The results indicated that the highest percentage of overweight was in the primary school students and the highest percentage of obesity was in the high school adolescents. A significant difference was found in mean physical activity scores between male and female students. The means of time (hrs) spent on dietary habits for male and female students were found to be 3.06±0.49 times/week and 3.09±0.46 times/week respectively. The means of time spent on sedentary behaviors’s for male and female students were found to be 2.69±0.71 hours/week and 2.73±0.71 hours/week respectively. The mean nutrition knowledge score for male and female students were found to be 2.97±0.294 and 2.92±0.27, respectively. There was no significant difference between the mean nutrition knowledge scores of male and female students. About 53.6% of students have moderate or high (45.9%) nutrition knowledge respectively. A high percentage of the students 42.0% could not identify the healthiest way to lose body weight while 17.2% chose all of above are healthy methods of losing body weight. In conclusion, obesity was found to be prevalent in high school adolescents. There was no significant differences in the responses for the risk factors such as physical activity, dietary intake, food habits and sedentary behavior’s between male and female adolescent students in Libyan School here in Malaysia. About 45.9% have high nutrition knowledge. Future intervention may consider incorporating the elements in the scheme to increase its effectiveness in nutrition knowledge and health awareness.