Analysis of poor oral habits and related factors among preschool children / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To understand poor oral habits of preschool children and related factors, so as to provide evidence for child oral health promotion.@*Methods@#A total of 3 094 preschool children from 12 kindergartens in Wuhan and Ezhou were selected by cluster sampling method. Basic demographic information and child poor oral habits were evaluated through questionnaire survey. Chi square test was used for univariate analysis and binary Logistic regression was performed for multivariate analysis.@*Results@#About 33.5% of preschoolers were found to have poor oral habits. Among them, biting nails and toys (4.4%), sucking fingers ( 3.8% ), mouth breathing (3.7%) ranked the highest. Multivariate analysis showed that only child( OR =1.26), picky eaters( OR =1.30), and exposure to second hand smoke ( OR =1.69) were associated with poor oral habits, while living in cities( OR =0.58), high family economic status ( OR =0.66), and good health ( OR =0.37), balanced diet ( OR =0.71), maternal high school education ( OR =0.72) were associated with better oral habits( P <0.05).@*Conclusion@#Preschool children s oral habits are affected by variable factors, attention should be paid to children who are the only child of the family, picky eaters, living in rural areas, and those exposed to second hand smoke.