PENGARUH PERILAKU MAKAN DAN GAYA PEMBERIAN MAKAN TERHADAP EARLY CHILDHOOD CARIES PADA ANAK USIA PRASEKOLAH = THE EFFECT OF FEEDING BEHAVIOR AND FEEDING STYLE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD CARIES IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

Introduction: Early childhood caries is a complex and multifactorial disease caused by various risk factors, one of which is cariogenic dietary patterns. In the last decade, it has been reported that eating behavior and feeding style by parents have the potential to cause ECC. However, studies that directly observe the caries condition and diet of children are still limited, especially for developing countries. This is necessary because some literature shows a high prevalence of caries in children in developing countries.
Objective: To determine the effect of eating behavior and feeding style on the onset of ECC in preschool children.
Methods: A total of 266 children and parents participated in this study. Several research instruments were used including the def-t index to assess children's caries status, the Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) to assess children's eating behavior and the Parental Feeding Questionnaire (PFQ) to assess parents' feeding style. Both questionnaires were completed by parents, while the classification of ECC and no ECC groups was obtained from intra oral examination. The results of the questionnaires and intra oral examination were then analyzed.
Results: Based on the results of the Mann-Whitney statistical test, it was found that in children's eating behavior, there were significant differences in groups of children with and without ECC in the factors of Food Responsive, Emotional Overeating, Emotional Feeding and Food Fussiness. While in the feeding style, the factors of Control, Instrumental Feeding and Emotional Feeding were significantly different between the two groups.
Conclusion: Children's eating behavior and parental feeding style may contribute to the occurrence of ECC.

Keywords : Early Childhood Caries, Parental feeding-eating behavior.