Oral health and obesity indicators

• Published in: BMC oral health Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 50
• Main Authors: Östberg, Anna-Lena, Bengtsson, Calle, Lissner, Lauren, Hakeberg, Magnus
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 20.11.2012; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adult; Angina Pectoris - complications; Body Mass Index; Cardiovascular disease; Clinical Medicine; Dental Anxiety - complications; Dental Anxiety - psychology; Dental care; Dental Care - psychology; Dental Care - utilization; Dental caries; Dental Caries - complications; Dental Caries - psychology; Dentistry; Diabetes Complications; DMF Index; Female; Health behaviour; Health Status; Humans; Hypertension - complications; Klinisk medicin; Life Style; Logistic Models; Mastication; measures; Middle Aged; Myocardial Infarction - complications; Number of teeth; Obesity; Obesity - complications; Obesity - psychology; Oral Health; Prospective Studies; Socioeconomic Factors; Statistics, Nonparametric; Studies; Surveys and Questionnaires; Sweden; Tooth Loss - complications; Tooth Loss - psychology; Waist circumference; Waist-Hip Ratio; Waist-to-hip ratio; Xerostomia - complications; Xerostomia - psychology; Sweden
• ISSN: 1472-6831; 1472-6831
• DOI: 10.1186/1472-6831-12-50

In western Sweden, the aim was to study the associations between oral health variables and total and central adiposity, respectively, and to investigate the influence of socio-economic factors (SES), lifestyle, dental anxiety and co-morbidity. The subjects constituted a randomised sample from the 1992 data collection in the Prospective Population Study of Women in Gothenburg, Sweden (n = 999, 38- > =78 yrs). The study comprised a clinical and radiographic examination, together with a self-administered questionnaire. Obesity was defined as body mass index (BMI) > =30 kg/m(2), waist-hip ratio (WHR) > =0.80, and waist circumference >0.88 m. Associations were estimated using logistic regression including adjustments for possible confounders. The mean BMI value was 25.96 kg/m(2), the mean WHR 0.83, and the mean waist circumference 0.83 m. The number of teeth, the number of restored teeth, xerostomia, dental visiting habits and self-perceived health were associated with both total and central adiposity, independent of age and SES. For instance, there were statistically significant associations between a small number of teeth (<20) and obesity: BMI (OR 1.95; 95% CI 1.40-2.73), WHR (1.67; 1.28-2.19) and waist circumference (1.94; 1.47-2.55), respectively. The number of carious lesions and masticatory function showed no associations with obesity. The obesity measure was of significance, particularly with regard to behaviour, such as irregular dental visits, with a greater risk associated with BMI (1.83; 1.23-2.71) and waist circumference (1.96; 1.39-2.75), but not with WHR (1.29; 0.90-1.85). Associations were found between oral health and obesity. The choice of obesity measure in oral health studies should be carefully considered.