Hand- and Object-Mouthing of Rural Bangladeshi Children 3–18 Months Old

Laura H. Kwong, Ayse Ercumen, Amy J. Pickering, Leanne Unicomb, Jennifer Davis and Stephen P. Luby
Additional contact information
Laura H. Kwong: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Ayse Ercumen: Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Amy J. Pickering: Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Leanne Unicomb: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Jennifer Davis: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Stephen P. Luby: Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA

IJERPH, 2016, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: Children are exposed to environmental contaminants by placing contaminated hands or objects in their mouths. We quantified hand- and object-mouthing frequencies of Bangladeshi children and determined if they differ from those of U.S. children to evaluate the appropriateness of applying U.S. exposure models in other socio-cultural contexts. We conducted a five-hour structured observation of the mouthing behaviors of 148 rural Bangladeshi children aged 3–18 months. We modeled mouthing frequencies using 2-parameter Weibull distributions to compare the modeled medians with those of U.S. children. In Bangladesh the median frequency of hand-mouthing was 37.3 contacts/h for children 3–6 months old, 34.4 contacts/h for children 6–12 months old, and 29.7 contacts/h for children 12–18 months old. The median frequency of object-mouthing was 23.1 contacts/h for children 3–6 months old, 29.6 contacts/h for children 6–12 months old, and 15.2 contacts/h for children 12–18 months old. At all ages both hand- and object-mouthing frequencies were higher than those of U.S. children. Mouthing frequencies were not associated with child location (indoor/outdoor). Using hand- and object-mouthing exposure models from U.S. and other high-income countries might not accurately estimate children’s exposure to environmental contaminants via mouthing in low- and middle-income countries.

Keywords: non-dietary ingestion; child behavior; mouthing; exposure factors; rural; Bangladesh (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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