Associations of diet quality, food consumption, eating frequency and eating behaviour with dental caries experience in Finnish children: a 2-year longitudinal study.

We examined cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of dietary factors with caries experience in a population sample of 487 children aged 6-9 years at baseline examinations of the Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children (PANIC) Study. Altogether, 406 of these children attended 2-year follow-up examinations. Food consumption and eating frequency were assessed using 4-day food records, diet quality using the Baltic Sea Diet Score (BSDS) and eating behaviour using the Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire. Caries experience was examined clinically. The cross-sectional associations of dietary factors with caries experience at baseline were analysed using linear regression and the longitudinal associations of dietary factors with a change in caries experience over follow-up using generalised mixed-effects regression adjusted for other risk factors. A higher consumption of high-fibre grain products (standardised regression coefficient = -0·16, = 0·003) and milk ( = -0·11, = 0·025) and higher BSDS ( = -0·15, = 0·007) were associated with lower caries experience, whereas a higher consumption of potatoes ( = 0·11, = 0·048) and emotional overeating ( = 0·12, = 0·025) were associated with higher caries experience. Higher snacking frequency (fixed coefficient = 0·07, = 0·033), desire to drink ( = 0·10, = 0·046), slowness in eating ( = 0·12, = 0·027) and food fussiness ( = 0·12, = 0·018) were associated with higher caries experience, whereas enjoyment of food ( = -0·12, = 0·034) and higher BSDS ( = -0·02, = 0·051) were associated with lower caries experience.