rome and Nutrition-Disorders

This study sought to estimate the prevalence and related prediction factors for dental caries in 3- to 5-year-old children in Rome, Italy.. From a sample of 2,025 children, 1,494 (73.8%) were included in the analysis. Children with at least two primary maxillary incisors showing evidence of caries experience were considered affected by rampant early childhood dental decay (RECDD). Behavioral and socioeconomic variables, mutans streptococci counts, diet, and nutritional status were investigated for their association with RECDD using regression analysis.. The prevalence of any caries was 27.3 percent, and was 7.6 percent for RECDD. Among all children, mean dft and dt scores per person were 1.1 (SD = 2.4) and 0.9 (SD = 2.3), respectively; among those classified as having RECDD, scores were 6.9 (SD = 4.2) and 6.7 (SD = 4.3), respectively. Children with RECDD had 56 percent of all the decayed teeth in the sample. Low and medium social classes, use of a baby bottle filled with sweetened beverages, high salivary mutans streptococcal levels, and malnutrition were directly associated with RECDD; milk and yogurt consumption and low Plaque Index scores were inversely associated with the condition.. The high prevalence of RECDD suggests that the implementation of preventive programs should be a priority for dental public health. Because of its high prevalence among children as young as 3 years of age, preventive measures targeted toward pregnant women and toddlers should be developed and tested, while kindergarten students could be used for monitoring RECDD prevalence and for detection of communities at risk.

Topics: Animals; Beverages; Bottle Feeding; Child Behavior; Child, Preschool; Colony Count, Microbial; Dental Caries; Dental Plaque Index; Diet; Dietary Carbohydrates; DMF Index; Female; Forecasting; Health Behavior; Health Education, Dental; Health Priorities; Humans; Incisor; Male; Milk; Nutrition Disorders; Nutritional Status; Pregnancy; Prevalence; Preventive Dentistry; Regression Analysis; Rome; Social Class; Streptococcus mutans; Tooth, Deciduous; Yogurt

The first International Conference on Nutrition ever organized by the United Nations took place in Rome in December 1992. The conference was attended by representatives of 159 countries and of various non-governmental organizations and the food industry. Preparations for the conference included preparation of a number of background documents, including an analysis of the nutritional situation in the different countries (country papers), twelve in-depth studies, eight theme papers and an assessment of the global nutrition situation. This article describes the process leading up to the conference, some of the problems and conflicts that appeared, controversial issues that were discussed and the final outcome of the conference (The world declaration and Plan of action for nutrition). The countries that participated in the conference pledged to make every effort to eliminate, before the end on this decade, famine and famine-related deaths, starvation and nutritional deficiencies related to natural and man-made disasters, and deficiencies of iodine and vitamin A.

Topics: Global Health; Humans; Nutrition Disorders; Nutrition Surveys; Nutritional Status; Rome; United Nations

Topics: Agriculture; Food; Food Supply; Forecasting; Humans; International Agencies; International Cooperation; Nutrition Disorders; Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Politics; Rome; Starvation; Technology; World Health Organization