Relationship between Breastfeeding and Oral Habits in Hong Kong Children

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate whether there is any relationship between breastfeeding and oral habits in pre-school children in Hong Kong. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted with 456 children living in Hong Kong (among them 52.0% boys) age 2 to 6 (3.45±1.09) years old. Questionnaires were completed by the guardians of the children, and the information on the history of breastfeeding and the oral habits such as parafunctional habits, pacifier use and chewing habits were collected. The associations between the duration of breastfeeding and oral habits were analyzed with Chi Square tests. The level of significance was set at 0.05.

Results: Among the 456 pre-school children, 69.1% of the children had been breastfed of which, 24.7% were entirely breastfed and 44.4% were partially breastfed. It was found that the proportion of never having pacifier habit in entirely-breastfed children (71.8%) was significantly higher than that in half breastfed (52.2%) or non-breastfed children (45.0 %) (p= 0.000236<0.05). However, those who were either entirely or partially breastfed had a significantly higher proportion of having biting and chewing harder food habit (80.8%) than non-breastfed children (71.5%) (p= 0.034<0.05).

Conclusion: The entirely-breastfed children are less dependent on pacifier than partially-breastfed or non-breastfed children. Breastfeeding may encourage the development of chewing function and activity.

Student Presenter This abstract is based on research that was funded entirely or partially by an outside source: The research is funded by: The Undergraduate Research Program, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong