Determinants of dental health behaviors in Nordic schoolchildren

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Abstract
As part of the comprehensive study "Health Behavior in Schoolchildren. A WHO Cross National Survey", this paper set out to identify determinants of four dental health behavioral dimensions in Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish schoolchildren aged 11, 13, and 15. The data were collected by means of self-administered questionnaires, and the results are considered to be representative of each country. The total sample size approximated 3000 pupils in each country. The four dependent variables, fluoride, interdental cleaning, sugar, and brushing behavior, were all based upon sum-scores of several questions, and were subsequently regressed upon five predictors: school achievement, sex, time spent with friends, educational plans, and family meal pattern. This model provided a far better fit to the data on sugar and brushing behavior than to fluoride and interdental cleaning behavior. However, brushing seems to be different from sugar behavior, being influenced by different factors. While brushing is closely linked to the prevailing sex-role pattern, sugar behavior is stronger related to peer group norms. Thus, the symbolic function of sweet consumption of the youth culture should have implications for the design of intervention strategies. For example, the provision of alternative behaviors will only be successful if the behaviors serve the same function as sugar consumption.

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