Analysis on the prevalence of drinking-tea type endemic fluorosis among children in Lhasa, Tibet / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To investigate the prevalence of drinking-tea type endemic fluorosis among children in Lhasa, Tibet, and to provide basic data for the early prevention of dental fluorosis and skeletal fluorosis among children.@*Methods@#Stratified cluster random sampling method was used to select primary school 1 991 students in 6 counties.@*Results@#The detection rate of dental fluorosis was 27.2%, the index of dental fluorosis was 0.44, and the total severity of fluorosis prevalence was identified as very mild among 6 counties. The detection rate of dental fluorosis increased with the age of the children：male and female increased by 36.2 and 28.5 percentage points,respectively. There was no significant difference between male and female students(χ2=0.08, P> 0.05). The urine fluoride test results suggested that urine fluoride concentration among participate children was below the standard limits value(geometric mean of urinary fluorine <1.4 mg/L).@*Conclusion@#The prevalence of tea-drinking type endemic fluorosis among children in Lhasa is more serious compared with that from other regions of China. The cumulative effect of fluorine in human body makes older students more prone to dental fluorosis. It is suggested that more school-based health education programs should be carried out to prevent tea drinking type endemic fluorosis.