Saturday June 4, 2016 (foodconsumer.org) --- Researchers at Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine in Okayama, Japan conducted a survey study and found Japanese college students who did not know much about the Japanese food education program and or drinking sugar-sweetened soft beverages frequently were at higher risk for dental caries. 

Japan started in 2005 to implement a comprehensive food education program (shokuiku) in Japanese schools to promote healthy dietary habits in an effort to reduce lifestyle related diseases like dental caries.  

Through this current study, the researchers would like to know if a few factors could affect the risk of dental caries in college students.   The factors considered include knowledge about the food education program, irregular diet, frequent snacking and or eating at night, frequent consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drink, regular dental checkup, brushing teeth (daily frequency), dental floss, and fluoride dentifrice usage.

The study found the biggest factors affecting the risk of dental caries were knowledge about the food education program, tooth brushing frequency, drinking sugar-sweetened soft drinks or soda while other factors were insignificant or not important for the risk of dental caries.

To be exact, male students who reported knowing the food education program were 100% less likely to develop dental caries than those who did not know while the food knowledge did not seem to affect the risk in female students.

Female students who reported drinking sugar loaded soft drinks were 89% more likely to develop dental caries than others while the risk was less influenced by drinking soft beverages in male students (41% more likely but not statistically significant).

Brushing teeth twice a day are particularly important for male students. The study found brushing teeth less than twice a day was associated with 72% higher risk for dental caries in male students and 55% higher risk (not statistically significant though) in female students.

It is worth noting that the study seems to suggest that dental flossing, use of fluoride dentifrice, regular dental checkups have nothing to do with the risk of dental caries or they do not reduce the risk.  

Another surprise is that frequent snacking and/or eating at night was not associated with the risk.   But other studies have shown that eating sugary snacks, and sugar and fruit juice can drastically increase risk of dental caries.  

The food education program recommends the Japanese dietary guidelines which includes daily intake of 5 to 7 servings of grain products, 5 or 6 servings of vegetables, 3 to 5 servings of fish and meat, 2 servings of milk products, and 2 servings of fruits.   It should be noted that the dietary guidelines include high amounts of vegetables, which are linked to lower risk for dental caries.  High intake of vegetables can also reduce risk for periodontal disease events.   (David Liu)

Source: Kunitomo M, Ekuni D, Mizutani S, Tomofuji T, Irie K, Azuma T, Yamane M, Kataoka K, Taniguchi-Tabata A, Mizuno H, Miyai H, Iwasaki Y, Morita M.   Association between Knowledge about Comprehensive Food Education and Increase in Dental Caries in Japanese University Students: A Prospective Cohort Study.  Nutrients. 2016 Feb 25;8(3).

Photo credit: WIkipedia.org