Overweight Kids Have Fewer Cavities

So maybe this is why my teeth are so horrible!
Perhaps it could also have something to do with metabolism in general. With a fast metabolism, things tend to go right through me. I end up keeping fewer calories in me. But could I also be absorbing fewer essential nutrients? Perhaps my body doesn’t hold onto calcium and other things needed for healthy teeth as someone who has a slower metabolism.

Interesting. I definitely would have expected otherwise. While overweight kids may overeat on fatty foods, is there any reason they would eat fewer cavity causing sweets?

The New Cook

From TPP — Foods displace other foods. If we load up on hamburgers and fries and milkshakes, it makes sense that we would be less likely to eat a pack of Skittles. I also wonder — and this is just a question on my part — if overweight kids might eat faster. I know a lot of little kids tend to suck on their fruit flavored skittles and dentists fret about this because it’s bad for teeth. I wonder if scarfing down your candy gives your teeth less exposure to it. I’m sure a dentist out there will know more about this issue than I do so please, let’s hear from you!

Why why why wouldn’t they control for children’s height? The heavier kids may just be the taller ones with MORE ROBUST BONE GROWTH! Talk about confounder for dental health!

This would support my hypothesis that the problem of obese kids isn’t about over-eating but about lack of exercise. I would be interested to see a study also comparing caries rates in kids of different academic achievement too. My hypothesis is that smart kids spend more time at the books and less time playing mindless sport – and they probably get fatter because of it. They don’t need fewer calories just because they’re growing in front of a computer or book and not on the football field, but they’re the equivalent of the sedentary professional who is often fatter than the gym-babe secretary who only just finished high school.

Once we see that there are a plethora of rational or even desirable choices that have obesity-risk effects we might start a) treating fat people better and b) start giving treatments that take into account their rationally chosen lifestyles and not what our ancestors would have done on the African plains (ie run a lot to get away from predators). It is not always BAD to defy evolution and reward people who like to sit at desks and use their brains rather than their muscles.

So far obesity research has always focused on getting people to spend more time doing X (ie exercise) which takes away time from their family and work. That time matters a lot more to those who have the brains to get into sedentary high-paying jobs where they don’t have the time. The other thing we do is say eat less – but below a certain point you impair your ability to think clearly, and suffer gyrating sugar levels if you cut back too far.

For some people that would be the cutback needed to maintain or lose weight given their long-hour sedentary jobs. If we took the moral judgment out of treating obesity and started trying to develop treatments that are compatible with sedentary lifestyles (ie not defining those as BAD), then I think we will be on the right track.

Re kids it actually makes a lot of sense. The other thing is that caries is prevented by prompt brushing even if you do eat junk. Perhaps the overweight kids brush their teeth more BECAUSE they eat more? And brushing more often has this side effect that they have lower caries rates.

My teeth went dramatically south in a period of two years during which I developed an uncontrollable Altoids habit. (I had to eat them in the car or I couldn’t drive properly. The space in front of the passenger seat filled up with Altoids tins to the level of the seat. No lie. Okay, slight lie. But it was several layers of tins.) I developed 16 cavities and gained 16 lbs. during this interesting period of my life. When I withdrew (in agony) from Altoids, the cavities stopped and a dozen pounds dropped effortlessly off my frame. No offense to Altoids, the King Of Mints. Enjoyed in moderation, they are a fine, fine comestible. Some of us, though, cannot freshen responsibly and must simply suffer through life with stale, clean teeth.

I think Emily may be on to something. I was a wicked skinny kid and I had a whole set of teeth come in with bad enamel. Fewer dental problems as I got older and reached a more average weight.

#10, there is a brand of mints that is actually good for your teeth. It’s made with Xylitol. I think in America it’s called XyliFresh. But, be warned, although it won’t ruin your teeth, it is just as fattening as mints sweetened with normal sugar.

Kids are growing all the time. It is not uncommon for kids to become “at risk of underweight” while they are in a height growth spurt, then move to “normal” and “at risk of overweight” in preparation for the next growth spurt.

Toss in that in kids the difference between “normal” and “at risk” can be, oh, a pound, and I can’t help but wonder how useful any of this data is.

If a kid stays in the 90 percentile for weight every month for years, that’s one thing. If the kid is seesawing around between growth spurts, that’s just “noise” for the purposes of this sort of study.

Re: Jillyflower

While you make a point about the amount of time ‘smarter’ people may spend at a desk job, being intelligent does not mean that you view exercise as ‘mindless’ or useless. Exercise can be a way to help you function better in activities that require intense thinking; getting out excess energy gets you ready to work when you sit down at your desk. And at a recommended level of caloric intake (even for dieters) that contains healthy fats, protein, and complex carbohydrates, there are no productivity reducing ‘sugar crashes’. I feel that there are reasons that many intelligent people consider when making choices on their diet and exercise programs to stay at a healthy weight; medical problems, quality of time with kids (a small 45 or so minute moderate-intense workout 5 days a week might only take a little less than an hour, but still provide much more enjoyment for the rest of the time you spend with your kids), and just feeling better for the rest of their day.

Just to remind you, Fat Albert had pretty shiny teeth too. And he laughed a lot. And had lots of friends.

I think the guy with the hat pulled down over his eyes had a toothache once and he was pretty skinny.

And this proves that you can learn everything you need to know from comics. Sometimes decades in advance.

It’s very simple. Overweight children are getting enough to eat. They are getting the vitamins, minerals, protein and calcium needed to have healthy teeth and gums. The fact is, overweight people in general are much healthier than thin people. Thats because people considered overweight are getting enough to eat. And that includes children.

Best,

Rebecca

There are a fair number of overweight kids out there who simply drew a “fat” hand of genetic cards (take a look at their parents, their siblings, their aunts and uncles and grandparents) and who eat considerably LESS than their thin schoolmates in a sadly doomed effort to try and compensate. Just like there are a fair number of super-thin kids out there who’ll go through six slices of pizza at a sitting like a tornado. There aren’t nearly enough data in this study to do more than the most speculative theorizing.