An inquiry into the effects of health related behaviour on dental health among young Asian children resident in a fluoridated city in Canada.

In low-fluoride areas, infant feeding practices have been implicated in the aetiology of extensive caries found in young Asian children. The purpose of this study was to compare the findings in low-fluoride Leeds, UK with fluoridated Edmonton, in Canada. A multilingual interpreter interviewed Asian parents, and their children aged 2 to 5 years were then given a dental examination. From the initial sample contacted by post, a 72 per cent response rate was achieved. Of the 72 parents interviewed, three-quarters reported that the child was initially breast fed, 11 for over 12 months. The majority of children continued bottle feeding beyond 24 months of age, and one-third drank sweetened milk. Two-thirds of the sample were caries free. The continued use of a feeding bottle per se was not associated with caries experience, but caries was more likely to occur if sugar, honey or cereal were added to the drink. A positive association was found between caries experience and sustained breast feeding beyond 12 months of age. Social variables, including father's occupation and mother's ability to speak English were not related to caries experience. The results confirm that, as in the UK, South Asian parents in Canada provide feeding bottles for their children's drinks well beyond infancy. Nevertheless, in a fluoridated city, bottle-feeding practices were not associated with caries experience unless drinks were sweetened. However, prolonged breast feeding was found to be harmful to dental health. The role of fluoride ingestion in relation to these feeding practices is discussed.