Association between obesity and perceived halitosis in Korean adolescents

Abstract

Adolescent obesity is a growing problem, which is related to serious medical diseases, including poor oral health. Halitosis is an important part of oral health. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the association between perceived halitosis and obesity in Korean adolescents. The present study used data from the 2015 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey in analyzing 68,043 Korean adolescents aged 12-18. The dependent variables, perceived halitosis, and socioeconomic variables, health-related variables, and oral health-related variables, were collected by using self-administered questionnaires. A multiple logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between obesity and perceived halitosis while controlling for school type, city scale, economic status, education levels of parents, academic achievement, stress, physical activity, drinking, smoking, taking frequencies of fast foods, soda, and fruits, tooth brushing frequency, and interdental cleaning. In the descriptive analysis, adolescents with a low socioeconomic status were more likely to be obese and perceived higher halitosis. In addition, perceived halitosis was associated with low physical activity, high stress, and low tooth brushing frequency. After adjusting for confounders, there was a significant association between obesity and perceived halitosis [odds ratio (95% Confidence Interval (CI)) : 1.22 (1.06-1.42)]. Odds ratio (OR) of girls was 1.60 (95% CI : 1.17-2.20) and OR of boys was 1.15 (95% CI : 0.98-1.35). This study demonstrates that obesity is closely associated with perceived halitosis in Korean adolescents. Therefore, intervention programs are required to prevent obesity and malodors for adolescents on a national scale.