title: Food choice and caries experience in Dutch teenagers as a function of the level of education of their parents.
abstract: The relation of the level of education attained by the father and mother with caries prevalence and food intake in the child was investigated in 284 fourteen-year-old Dutch schoolchildren. Foods were classified into three categories: 'health food', 'supplementary food' and 'luxury food'. Food intake was assessed by a 24-h recall with special emphasis on the sugar-containing foods. In multiple regression analysis a significant positive correlation was found of the education of the father with the percentage of the child's energy intake provided by 'healthy foods' (r partial = 0.18, n = 284, P = 0.001). Significant negative partial correlations were also found of the education of the father (r = -0.23) and the mother (r = -0.29) with the number of decayed, missing and filled tooth surfaces in the teenagers. These results indicate an increased risk of 'unhealthy' food habits in children of less-educated parents.
authors.affiliation: University of Nijmegen, Department of Cariology and Endodontology, School of Dentistry, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: de Vries
authors.forename: T P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Lucker
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Cremers
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Katan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D010290:Parents; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012923:Social Class