Association between Propylthiouracil (PROP) Taster Status and Problematic Eating Behaviour to Early Childhood Caries in Bangalore North

Background: Propylthiouracil (PROP) taster status influences the sugar consumption and in turn the dietary patterns of children that are risk factor for ECC. Problematic Eating behaviour of children such as slow eating, picky eating, pouching of food, sweetening of meals, frequent consumption of juices has also been proven to an important factor to be considered during diet history. There is a need to assess the association between Propylthiouracil (PROP) Taster status and Eating behaviour to Early Childhood caries.

Methods: In a cross sectional study, statistically determined sample of 199 preschool children of Bangalore North aged between 31 to 72 months were screened for ECC. Informed consent and permission from school authorities were obtained. Taster status was assessed using PROP taster strips. Eating behaviour was assessed by responses from the parents on Children Eating Behaviour Questionnaire for Early childhood caries by Latha Anandakrishna and Amitha Hegde. Association was analyzed using SPSS software Version 18. Association between taster status, ECC and Problematic eating behaviour was checked with chi square test and Pearson correlation.

Results: There was a significant association between ECC and Taster status (chi square = 8.554 at df = 1, p =0.003) with negative correlation of -0.21(p=0.003). However problematic eating behaviour was noticed in the sample, with nearly 47% sweetening the child’s food for the child to eat, there was no association between eating behaviour and taster status.

Conclusion: Taster status to PROP plays a significant role as a risk factor for ECC. Problematic eating behaviour is also prevalent in the sample that needs to be addressed. Larger scale studies are needed to address the problem.