Maternal and Child Nutrition and Oral Health in Urban Vietnam

Debbie Huang, Karen Sokal-Gutierrez, Kenny Chung, Wenting Lin, Linh Ngo Khanh, Raymond Chung, Hung Trong Hoang and Susan L. Ivey
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Debbie Huang: Health Research for Action, University of California Berkeley School of Public Health, 2140 Shattuck Avenue, 10th Floor, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA
Karen Sokal-Gutierrez: Health Research for Action, University of California Berkeley School of Public Health, 2140 Shattuck Avenue, 10th Floor, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA
Kenny Chung: Health Research for Action, University of California Berkeley School of Public Health, 2140 Shattuck Avenue, 10th Floor, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA
Wenting Lin: Health Research for Action, University of California Berkeley School of Public Health, 2140 Shattuck Avenue, 10th Floor, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA
Linh Ngo Khanh: Health Research for Action, University of California Berkeley School of Public Health, 2140 Shattuck Avenue, 10th Floor, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA
Raymond Chung: Health Research for Action, University of California Berkeley School of Public Health, 2140 Shattuck Avenue, 10th Floor, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA
Hung Trong Hoang: Faculty of Odonto-Stomatology and Department of Dental Public Health, University of Medicine and Pharmacy-Ho Chi Minh City, 217 Hồng Bàng, Phường 11, Quận 5, Hồ Chí Minh 700000, Vietnam
Susan L. Ivey: Health Research for Action, University of California Berkeley School of Public Health, 2140 Shattuck Avenue, 10th Floor, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 14, 1-10

Abstract: The global nutrition transition has contributed to child obesity and dental caries in developing countries, including Vietnam. Few studies have described the nutrition and oral health of mothers and children. This a descriptive study of the nutrition and oral health characteristics of a convenience sample of 571 children aged 2 to 5 years and their mothers from 5 urban preschools in Central and South Vietnam. The mothers completed a written survey, and the children received dental exams and weight/height measurements. High rates of bottle-feeding and the consumption of sweets were reported. One in 4 children were overweight/obese. Dental caries increased in prevalence and severity by age—at 5 years, 86.7% of children had tooth decay in an average of 8.5 teeth, and 70.9% experienced mouth pain. Most mothers and children suffered from untreated dental disease. Public health programs should focus on nutrition and oral health promotion, as well as dental treatment from pregnancy and birth onward.

Keywords: nutrition transition; oral health; early childhood caries; mouth pain; bottle-feeding (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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