Early Childhood Junk Food Consumption, Severe Dental Caries, and Undernutrition: A Mixed-Methods Study from Mumbai, India

Priyanka Athavale, Nehaa Khadka, Shampa Roy, Piyasree Mukherjee, Deepika Chandra Mohan, Bathsheba (Bethy) Turton and Karen Sokal-Gutierrez
Additional contact information
Priyanka Athavale: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA
Nehaa Khadka: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA
Shampa Roy: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA
Piyasree Mukherjee: Swasti Health Catalyst, Mumbai 560094, India
Deepika Chandra Mohan: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA
Bathsheba (Bethy) Turton: University of Puthisastra, Phnom Penh 12211, Cambodia
Karen Sokal-Gutierrez: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 22, 1-17

Abstract: In India, globalization has caused a nutrition transition from home-cooked foods to processed sugary snacks and drinks, contributing to increased early childhood caries (ECC). This mixed-methods study describes risk factors for ECC and associations with undernutrition in low-income communities in Mumbai. Interviews with mothers of 959 children, ages six-months through six-years, addressed maternal-child nutrition and oral health, and children received dental exams and anthropometric assessments. Focus groups with community health workers and mothers explored experiences and perceptions of oral health, nutrition, and ECC. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses of quantitative data, and content analysis of qualitative data were performed. Eighty percent of children lived 5 min from a junk-food store, over 50% consumed junk-food and sugary tea daily, 50% experienced ECC, 19% had severe deep tooth decay, 27% experienced mouth pain, and 56% experienced chronic and/or acute malnutrition. In children ages 3–6, each additional tooth with deep decay was associated with increased odds of undernutrition (Odds Ratio [OR] 1.10, Confidence Interval [CI] 1.02–1.21). Focus groups identified the junk-food environment, busy family life, and limited dental care as contributors to ECC. Policy interventions include limits on junk-food marketing and incorporating oral health services and counseling on junk-food/sugary drinks into maternal–child health programs.

Keywords: India; nutrition transition; junk food; sugar-sweetened beverages; early childhood caries; ECC; mouth pain; undernutrition; malnutrition; mixed-methods study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/22/8629/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/22/8629/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:22:p:8629-:d:448538

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().