Abdominal Obesity and Dental Caries among Woman in Baghdad City / Iraq (Cross Sectional Study)

Background Abdominal fats imply greater health risk than peripheral fats. Dental caries and obesity are multifactorial diseases and associated with dietary habits. Aims of the study This study was designed to determine the prevalence of abdominal obesity and dental caries among female teachers in Baghdad city in addition to the relation between them. Subjects and methods This study was conducted in females secondary schools of Baghdad city, among females teachers with age range 29-39 years old. Abdominal obesity was determined by waist hip ratio examination. Teachers were divided into three groups (health weight, overweight and obese) according to waist hip ratio measurements. Caries experience was determined by the Decayed- Missing Filled Surfaces (DMFS) index. Results the total sample was 534 women. The results showed that the highest percentage of the teacher was obese and the lowest percentage was with healthy weight. No statistical significant differences were found in mean values of caries- experience among the groups of the waist hip ratio classifications Conclusion high percentage of abdominal obesity may light the need for dietary habits adjustment among women to reduce the possible health outcome. Further studies are needed to clear the relations between abdominal obesity and dental caries.