Relationship Between Food Insecurity and Child Dental Behavior

Relationship Between Food Insecurity, Maternal Psychological Status, and Child Dental Behavior: A Cross-Sectional Study

identifying children with dental uncooperative behavior among those who suffered from food insecurity will enable to implement preventive strategies and early intervention. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between food insecurity, maternal psychological status and child dental behavior.

A well-trained investigator will collect data on maternal age (in years), the marital status, the educational levels of both parents and their employment status, pregnancy information, as well as family structure (whether children are living with both parents or not), number of siblings (none, one, two, or ≥three). Information on family monthly income and crowding index which is defined as the average number of people per room, excluding both the kitchen and bathrooms will be also obtained.

The level of household food insecurity will be determined using the validated Arabic version of the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) which categorizes food insecurity into three levels (food secure, marginally food secure and food insecure) where the final score is given according to the sum of affirmative responses to the tool statements and the higher the score the more the level of food insecurity.

The validated Arabic version of the 14-item Perceived Stress Scale will be used to measure the self-reported level of stress among mothers of the enrolled children by assessing their feelings and thoughts during the last month. The level of child's dental behavior will be assessed during the initial oral examination before starting any dental treatment procedures using the six-point Venham behavior rating scale which ranges from total cooperation (0) to no cooperation

• Healthy children (3-13 years old) having at least one tooth needs dental treatment
• Accompanied by their mothers on their first dental visit
• whose mothers signed an informed consent children were enrolled only if they had at least one carious tooth with ICDAS for coronal caries ranging from 3 to 5.