Abstract Preview
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 |
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. |
Requires Audio or Video system for Presentation?: No