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Distribution of dental health behaviors in Nordic schoolchildren
Author(s) -
Rise Jostein,
Haugejorden Ola,
Wold Bente,
Aarö Leif E.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
community dentistry and oral epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.061
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1600-0528
pISSN - 0301-5661
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0528.1991.tb00096.x
Subject(s) - norwegian , medicine , dental health , distribution (mathematics) , sample (material) , environmental health , demography , dentistry , mathematical analysis , philosophy , linguistics , chemistry , mathematics , chromatography , sociology
The present study was part of the project “Health Behavior in Schoolchildren. A WHO Cross National Survey”. The distribution of eight dental health behaviors among Finnish. Norwegian, and Swedish schoolchildren aged 11. 13. and 15 yr was studied separately for boys and girls. The sample size approximated 3000 individuals for each country, and the samples are considered to be representative for whole countries. The distinction between individual and collective behavior was empirically supported in this study. Thus collective behaviors (supervised fluoride rinsing and distribution of fluoride tablets) did not vary according to sex but declined with increasing age. On the other hand, individual behaviors varied according to sex and tended to increase in frequency with increasing age. The levels of the studied dental health behaviors were different among the three countries. This may be related to country‐specific preventive policies as well as social and cultural norms.