Global Health Literacy Summit 2021
03 - 05 October 2021
Virtual

Abstract

Title
Parental influences on children’s oral health and literacy practices
Type
Poster Presentation Only
Theme
Global Health Literacy Summit 2021
Topic
Child and Family Health Literacy

Authors

Main Author
Valerie A. Ubbes1
Presenting Author
Valerie A. Ubbes1
Co-Author

Authors' Institution

Department / Institution / Country
Kinesiology, Nutrition, and Health / Miami University / United States1
Content
Abstract Content (abstracts should be written in Size 11 font, Arial font style)

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between the self-reported dental habits and reading habits of 300 parent-child dyads. The main research question was: Is there a relationship between oral health habits and reading habits among children and their parents? Child-parent dyads were recruited through a Qualtrics panel with the inclusion criteria of having a child at home between the ages of 9 and 11 when accessing the curriculum online. Parents and children answered questions about their reading and oral health habits (e.g., brushing, flossing, 6 month dental check-up) before and after listening to a skill-based, visual textual story about oral health hygiene, which included setting a goal to have a dental check-up every six months. The definition for oral health was conceptualized as the ability to brush and floss teeth every day and preferably twice a day. Results showed a significant relationship between reading habits and oral health habits between parents and children. For example, 88.6% of the child-parent dyads thought the story reading level was just right (p < .01) with a contingency coefficient of 0.729, indicating a strong relationship between parents’ and children’s perceptions of the oral health story. A medium significant difference in child-parent flossing behaviors was found with a contingency coefficient of 0.445. More children (81.7%) liked to read about oral health compared to parents (55%). Chi-square results showed a significant relationship between a child having a good feeling for reading about oral health and his or her parent having a good feeling for reading (x2 = 8.773, df = 1, p = 0.003). Children’s beliefs in going to the dentist twice a year before and after reading the eBook for Oral Health Literacy changed significantly χ2(3, N = 313) = 65.925, p = < 0.0001. Implications for the role of oral health literacy in child health is discussed.

Keywords: Oral health literacy, parent child dyads, eBook for Oral Health Literacy
Requires Audio or Video system for Presentation?: No