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Water Consumption and Nursing Characteristics of Infants by Race and Ethnicity
Author(s) -
Heller Keith E.,
Sohn Woosung,
Burt Brian A.,
Feigal Robert J.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of public health dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1752-7325
pISSN - 0022-4006
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-7325.2000.tb03319.x
Subject(s) - ethnic group , medicine , demography , multivariate analysis , pediatrics , sociology , anthropology
Objective : The purpose of this project was to determine racial/ethnic differences in water consumption levels and nursing habits of children younger than 2 years old. Methods : Data from the 1994–96 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII) were used for these analyses. Water consumption and breast‐feeding data on 946 children younger than 2 years old were used. Results : For black non‐Hispanic children younger than 2 years old ( n =121), 5.3 percent of the children were currently being breast fed. This percentage was less than that seen in other racial/ethnic groups. For white non‐Hispanic children ( n =620), this percentage was 10.8 percent; for Hispanic children ( n =146), 12.2 percent; for “other” children, 18.5 percent ( n =59). Black non‐Hispanic children had the highest total water consumption (128.6 ml/kg/day) among all groups, white non‐Hispanic had the lowest (113.2 ml/kg/day). These differences were not statistically significant in multivariate regression modeling. Black non‐Hispanic children also drank moretap water (21.3 ml/kg/day) than white non‐Hispanic children (12.7 ml/kg/day) and Hispanic children (14.9 ml/kg/day). The difference was statistically significant in multivariate regression modeling. Conclusions : The differences in breast feeding and water consumption observed among black children younger than 2 years of age could be a factor in the observed higher levels of fluorosis in black children compared to other children.