IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i16p10055-d888336.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Nutritional and Oral Hygiene Knowledge versus Reported Behavior of Children and Adolescents—A Cross-Sectional Interview-Based Study

Author

Listed:
  • Madline P. Gund

    (Clinic of Operative Dentistry, Periodontology and Preventive Dentistry, Saarland University, D-66421 Homburg, Germany)

  • Carola Unshelm

    (Clinic of Operative Dentistry, Periodontology and Preventive Dentistry, Saarland University, D-66421 Homburg, Germany)

  • Matthias Hannig

    (Clinic of Operative Dentistry, Periodontology and Preventive Dentistry, Saarland University, D-66421 Homburg, Germany)

  • Stefan Rupf

    (Clinic of Operative Dentistry, Periodontology and Preventive Dentistry, Saarland University, D-66421 Homburg, Germany
    Synoptic Dentistry, Saarland University, D-66421 Homburg, Germany)

Abstract

Despite the fact that healthy, sugar-reduced nutrition has been propagated by the media and in schools for years, dental caries in children remains a major health problem worldwide, caused primarily by an unhealthy diet. The objective of this study is to compare statements on nutrition and hygienic knowledge with those on children’s actual dietary and hygienic behavior. A random sample of 554 children and adolescents aged 3–19 years was enrolled. Designed as a cross-sectional interview-based community survey, this study was conducted consecutively during three one-day public science-promoting events at the Saarland University’s Medical Faculty. Participants’ oral hygiene and nutritional knowledge was profound; however, the reported translation into practice showed deficiencies. Boys and younger children (3–10 years) often showed better oral hygiene knowledge than girls and older children (over 11 years) but had problems implementing it into their daily life practice. In contrast, girls and older children often showed less oral hygiene knowledge but reported more favorable behavior. Finally, children up to the mixed dentition phase preferred drinking sweets more often than older children, posing a risk to the developing permanent dentition. Intensifying well-known controlled motivation training approaches to encourage children and adolescents is recommended to put their knowledge into practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Madline P. Gund & Carola Unshelm & Matthias Hannig & Stefan Rupf, 2022. "Nutritional and Oral Hygiene Knowledge versus Reported Behavior of Children and Adolescents—A Cross-Sectional Interview-Based Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-9, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:16:p:10055-:d:888336
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/16/10055/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/16/10055/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chloe Tsang & Karen Sokal-Gutierrez & Priya Patel & Brett Lewis & Debbie Huang & Kristina Ronsin & Ashmita Baral & Aparna Bhatta & Nehaa Khadka & Howard Barkan & Sidhanta Gurung, 2019. "Early Childhood Oral Health and Nutrition in Urban and Rural Nepal," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-11, July.
    2. Vartanian, L.R. & Schwartz, M.B. & Brownell, K.D., 2007. "Effects of soft drink consumption on nutrition and health: A systematic review and meta-analysis," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 97(4), pages 667-675.
    3. Chin-En Yen & Yuh-Yih Lin & Suh-Woan Hu, 2021. "Anthropometric Status, Diet, and Dental Caries among Schoolchildren," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-12, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Colantuoni, Francesca & Rojas, Christian, 2013. "Heterogeneous behavior, obesity and storability in soft drink consumption: A dynamic demand model," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 257244, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. Bo Yang & Xin Huang & Qin Liu & Shenglan Tang & Mary Story & Yiwen Chen & Maigeng Zhou, 2020. "Child Nutrition Trends Over the Past Two Decades and Challenges for Achieving Nutrition SDGs and National Targets in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-12, February.
    3. Laura C. Leviton, 2008. "Children's Healthy Weight and the School Environment," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 615(1), pages 38-55, January.
    4. Vivek Pandey & Natalia Vidal & Rajat Panwar & Lubna Nafees, 2019. "Characterization of Sustainability Leaders and Laggards in the Global Food Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-14, September.
    5. Ivan Parise & Penelope Abbott & Steven Trankle, 2021. "Drivers to Obesity—A Study of the Association between Time Spent Commuting Daily and Obesity in the Nepean Blue Mountains Area," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-14, December.
    6. Piontak, Joy Rayanne & Russell, Michael A. & Danese, Andrea & Copeland, William E. & Hoyle, Rick H. & Odgers, Candice L., 2017. "Violence exposure and adolescents' same-day obesogenic behaviors: New findings and a replication," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 145-151.
    7. Alsukait, Reem & Wilde, Parke & Bleich, Sara N. & Singh, Gitanjali & Folta, Sara C., 2020. "Evaluating Saudi Arabia’s 50% carbonated drink excise tax: Changes in prices and volume sales," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    8. Mancino, Lisa & Todd, Jessica E. & Guthrie, Joanne F. & Lin, Biing-Hwan, 2010. "How Food Away From Home Affects Children's Diet Quality," Economic Research Report 134700, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    9. Fischer, Justina A.V., 2012. "The choice of domestic policies in a globalized economy: Extended Version," MPRA Paper 37816, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Paula Carvalho Pereda & Carolina Policarpo Garcia, 2021. "Price impact of taxes on sugary drinks in Brazil," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2021_06, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
    11. Anurag Sharma & Katharina Hauck & Bruce Hollingsworth & Luigi Siciliani, 2014. "The Effects Of Taxing Sugar‐Sweetened Beverages Across Different Income Groups," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(9), pages 1159-1184, September.
    12. Silva, Andres & Etilé, Fabrice & Boizot-Szantai, Christine & Dharmasena, Senarath, 2013. "The Impact of Beverage Taxes on Quantity and Quality of Consumption in France," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 150428, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    13. Isabel Peraita-Costa & Agustín Llopis-González & Alfredo Perales-Marín & Ferran Sanz & Agustín Llopis-Morales & María Morales-Suárez-Varela, 2018. "A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Population-Based Study on Prenatal Levels of Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet: Maternal Profile and Effects on the Newborn," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-18, July.
    14. Ritter, Patricia I., 2023. "Soda expansion in the tropics: The effect on obesity rates among women without piped water at home," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    15. Huang, Rui & Kiesel, Kristin, 2010. "Does Limited Access at School Result in Compensation at Home?-The Effect of Soft Drink Bans in Schools on Purchase Patterns outside of Schools," 2010 Annual Meeting, July 25-27, 2010, Denver, Colorado 61593, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    16. Eva K. Robertson, 2015. "“Como Arrancar una Planta”: Women’s Reflections about Influences of Im/Migration on Their Everyday Lives and Health in Mexico," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 4(2), pages 1-19, April.
    17. Callison, Kevin & Lowen, Aaron, 2022. "The long-run effects of adolescent athletic participation on women’s health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    18. Goulão, Catarina & Pérez-Barahona, Agustín, 2011. "Intergenerational transmission of non-communicable chronic diseases," TSE Working Papers 11-219, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    19. Guofang Huang & Ahmed Khwaja & K. Sudhir, 2012. "Short Run Needs and Long Term Goals: A Dynamic Model of Thirst Management," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1856, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    20. Fischer, Justina A.V., 2012. "The choice of domestic policies in a globalized economy," Papers 306, World Trade Institute.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:16:p:10055-:d:888336. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.