The Relationship Between Caries and Eating Habit of Preschool Children

We requested parents and carers to respond to a questionnaire survey on kindergarten children in a region of Yokohama City and analyzed the relationship between preschool children\u27s caries and the awareness of the nature of foods by their parents and carers, the state of intake of vegetables by children (by the level of chewing) and the frequency of the intake of food.As a result, it is recognized that the level of awareness about the nature of food being relevant to the prevention of caries in children was extremely low in both groups. It is also seen that the level of awareness of parents and carers in the group of parents and carers with children having caries is significantly low as to the item of <to chew well<, and so there was a clear relationship shown between caries and not chewing well. In addition, the results show that concerning the state of intake of vegetables (by the level of chewing), the proportion of the food items that the groups of children with caries do not eat increased in line with the increase in the level of chewing required. Furthermore, it was also shown that children with a low score of nutritious balance in their diet tend to have a higher rate of caries.From the above, it can be seen that a diet with well balanced nutrition where people eat and chew well a large amount of vegetables may be effective in preventing caries.To realize this, information concerning what a diet should be in order to develop a healthy food intake function should be provided to parents and carers and of the level of awareness and interest in the prevention of caries and diet should be increasad. In addition, people should be provided with support to develop a desirable diet. Continuing nutrition education is, therefore, recommended