Effect of Sedentary Lifestyle on the Oral Health in a Group of Iranian Children

Abstract

Background: Sedentary life style may affect dental health, growth, and general well-being of children, requiring the participation of health care providers. The aim of the present study was to assess the relation between oral health (dental plaque index) and sedentary lifestyle pattern in children. Methods: In this cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study, 219 children aged 8 to 12 from the schools of Shahrekord city were selected by cluster random sampling in 2021–2022. After obtaining informed consent, parents filled a questionnaire about their child lifestyle pattern. Children chew disclosing agent and then Plaque index was recorded by examination according to tooth coloring pattern. Data were analyzed using Spearman correlation coefficient, K-square in SPSS 22 software. The level of significance was considered less than 0.05. Results: The mean dental plaque index was 1.37±0.53 in the total population of Shahrekord children (1.23±0.49 in girls and 1.54±0.55 in boys). Children spend most of their time studying and watching television and spend less time on calls and listening to music. There was no significant relationship between the mean score of overall sedentary entertainment and plaque index (p-value=0.092). However, there was a direct and significant relation between watching television and computer games with dental plaque index (p-value<0.05). Conclusion: Increasing sedentary entertainment in children, such as watching television or playing computer games, may affect children’s oral health. Therefore, it is important for dentists to consider children’s lifestyle as an influencing factor in oral health. Copyright 2023, Journal of Iranian Medical Council. All rights reserved.