Objectives: To determine the prevalence and severity of dental caries in 1-6 year old children in a pediatric hospital in Chennai and to assess the risk factors associated with dental caries among them. Materials and methods:  A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 70 children in the age group of 1 to 6 years from a pediatric hospital in Chennai, India. A pre-tested questionnaire which contained parents’ educational level, socio-economic status and various risk factors of dental caries was administered to the parents’ of the study participants to collect relevant data. Decayed, missing, filled  teeth (dmft) index  and  decayed, missing,  filled  surface (dmfs) index were used to collect the caries status of the study population Results: The mean age of the study participants was 4.01 years (±1.40). The study population constituted 58.6% of the male and 41.4% of the female.   There was statistical significant difference among the children in the number of sweets consumed with a p value of 0.05. There found to be a statistical significant difference in the mean dmft and mean dmfs value based on the number of sweets consumed by the children (p=0.05 & 0.01). There was statistical differencein the mean dmfs values among the study population based on gender with a p value of 0.02. The mean dmft value was found to be high among the female (9.97±5.5.6) compared to that of male (7.02±4.65) with a significant p value of 0.01 Conclusion:  This study indicates the need for cumulative preventive programs with a focus to bring behavioral changes in the frequency and number of consumption of sweets among the pediatric population. Parents have to be motivated to alter the diet pattern and positively modify the oral hygiene practices of the young children.