Food choice and caries experience in Dutch teenagers as a function of the level of education of their parents.
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.
de Vries
H C
HC
University of Nijmegen, Department of Cariology and Endodontology, School of Dentistry, The Netherlands.
Lucker
T P
TP
Cremers
S B
SB
Katan
M B
MB
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