Marja-Liisa Laitala1,2, Miira M Vehkalahti3, Jorma I Virtanen1,4. 1. a Research Unit of Oral Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine , University of Oulu , Oulu , Finland. 2. b Kallio Public Health Care , Ylivieska , Finland. 3. c Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases, Faculty of Medicine , University of Helsinki , Helsinki , Finland. 4. d Medical Research Center , Oulu University Hospital , Oulu , Finland.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: We aimed to investigate the habitual consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and sweets in relation to mothers' behaviours and practices with their infants. METHODS: We targeted mothers with children 1-24 months (N = 200) visiting Public Child Health clinics in Finland. During routine visits mothers (N = 179) volunteered to complete a self-administered anonymous questionnaire about their child's health-related behaviours (consumption of sweets and SSBs, tooth brushing frequency). The questionnaires also included questions about the mothers' background (age, education) and health-related behaviours (consumption of sweets, tooth brushing frequency and smoking habits). The children were categorised by age, and Chi-squared tests, Fischer's exact test, ANOVA and correlation coefficient served for the statistical analyses. RESULTS: Of those under 6 months, almost half (44%) received SSBs, and 45% of them more than once a week. Their use gradually increased by age such that by 19-24 months, all received SSBs at least sometimes, and 56%, frequently. Fewer than half of the mothers (33-43%) gave sweets to their children between the ages of 10-15 months, but 92% by the age of 2 years. Children's twice-a-day tooth brushing increased from 14% to 33%. The child's age and tooth brushing frequency correlated with the consumption of sugar-sweetened products (r = 0.458). CONCLUSIONS: Infants frequent consumption of sugar-sweetened products begins early in childhood. Thus, tackling these common risk factors in the first years of life is essential and calls for health-promoting actions in multiple areas that target primarily the parents of infants.
OBJECTIVES: We aimed to investigate the habitual consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and sweets in relation to mothers' behaviours and practices with their infants. METHODS: We targeted mothers with children 1-24 months (N = 200) visiting Public Child Health clinics in Finland. During routine visits mothers (N = 179) volunteered to complete a self-administered anonymous questionnaire about their child's health-related behaviours (consumption of sweets and SSBs, tooth brushing frequency). The questionnaires also included questions about the mothers' background (age, education) and health-related behaviours (consumption of sweets, tooth brushing frequency and smoking habits). The children were categorised by age, and Chi-squared tests, Fischer's exact test, ANOVA and correlation coefficient served for the statistical analyses. RESULTS: Of those under 6 months, almost half (44%) received SSBs, and 45% of them more than once a week. Their use gradually increased by age such that by 19-24 months, all received SSBs at least sometimes, and 56%, frequently. Fewer than half of the mothers (33-43%) gave sweets to their children between the ages of 10-15 months, but 92% by the age of 2 years. Children's twice-a-day tooth brushing increased from 14% to 33%. The child's age and tooth brushing frequency correlated with the consumption of sugar-sweetened products (r = 0.458). CONCLUSIONS:Infants frequent consumption of sugar-sweetened products begins early in childhood. Thus, tackling these common risk factors in the first years of life is essential and calls for health-promoting actions in multiple areas that target primarily the parents of infants.
Authors: Katherine A Thurber; Johanna Long; Minette Salmon; Adolfo G Cuevas; Raymond Lovett Journal: Public Health Nutr Date: 2019-08-28 Impact factor: 4.022
Authors: Ilana Eshriqui; Heli T Viljakainen; Sandra R G Ferreira; Sajan C Raju; Elisabete Weiderpass; Rejane A O Figueiredo Journal: Int Breastfeed J Date: 2020-05-15 Impact factor: 3.461