The Association Between Parenting Styles and Feeding Styles on Early Childhood Caries

Background: A parenting style (authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive) refers to a set of activities that parents perform to raise a child. A certain feeding style is influenced by a parenting style. The high intake of foods containing sugar without parental control can increase the incidence of early childhood caries (ECC). Objective: The Objective of this article is to analyze the association of parenting styles and feeding styles on the occurrence of ECC among children aged 3–5. Methods: The research was an analytical cross-sectional study. Data were collected from 105 pairs of mothers and children, selected through the purposive sampling technique in Yogyakarta. Type of parenting and feeding styles was obtained through questionnaires given to mothers, whereas intra-oral examination was used to detect the ECC in children using the decay-missing-filling-teeth (dmf-t) index. Data were collected and analyzed using multinominal logistic regression with a statistical significance at P < 0.05. Results: The prevalence of ECC and dmf-t among children with permissive parents was highest (63.84%; 7.51+5.97) when compared with those with authoritarian parents (26.21%; 3.09+4.23). Those with authoritative parents was lowest (9.95%; 1.17+1.65). Authoritative parenting is associated with less consumption of cariogenic foods and low occurrence of ECC (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Parenting styles have a direct association with feeding styles and ECC. Children with authoritative parents have a highest benefit on lowest risk of ECC when compared with other counterparts