父母外出务工对中国留守儿童牙齿健康的影响。
The impact of parental migration on left-behind children's tooth health in China.
作者信息
Zhang Yunyun, Du Kang
机构信息
College of Economics, Xi'an University of Finance and Economics, Xi'an, 710100, Shaanxi, China.
出版信息
BMC Public Health. 2025 Jan 7;25(1):72. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-21193-2.
BACKGROUND
Parental migration plays a significant role in shaping the health outcomes of left-behind children. However, limited research has been conducted on how parental migration impacts the dental health of these children in China. To address this gap, this study aims to investigate the effects of parental migration on the dental health of left-behind children and explore the underlying mechanisms that contribute to these outcomes.
METHODS
This study utilized data from the first wave of the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), which included a representative sample of 9,175 junior high school students. Dental caries, the most common dental issue among school-aged children, were employed as the primary indicator of oral health, focusing on both the presence of caries and their treatment. The analysis incorporated multiple methodologies, including the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model, instrumental variables approach, and the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method, to assess the impact of parental migration on the dental health of left-behind children.
RESULTS
The findings indicated that parental migration did not increase the likelihood of left-behind children developing dental caries. However, it significantly reduced the probability of these children receiving treatment for dental caries. These results were consistent across various robustness tests. Mechanism analysis revealed no significant differences in the consumption of carbonated or sugary drinks between left-behind and non-left-behind children. However, left-behind children were less likely to identify their parents as their primary source of support and experienced lower levels of proactive communication from parents about their challenges compared to their peers.
CONCLUSIONS
The study highlights that although parental migration does not increase the prevalence of dental caries among left-behind children, it contributes to inequities in their access to treatment. Given the serious implications of untreated dental caries, targeted efforts are needed to improve treatment rates among left-behind children.
背景
父母迁移对留守儿童的健康状况有着重大影响。然而，在中国，关于父母迁移如何影响这些孩子的口腔健康的研究有限。为填补这一空白，本研究旨在调查父母迁移对留守儿童口腔健康的影响，并探索导致这些结果的潜在机制。
方法
本研究使用了中国教育追踪调查（CEPS）第一波的数据，该数据包含9175名初中生的代表性样本。龋齿是学龄儿童中最常见的口腔问题，被用作口腔健康的主要指标，重点关注龋齿的存在及其治疗情况。分析采用了多种方法，包括普通最小二乘法（OLS）模型、工具变量法和倾向得分匹配（PSM）方法，以评估父母迁移对留守儿童口腔健康的影响。
结果
研究结果表明，父母迁移并没有增加留守儿童患龋齿的可能性。然而，这显著降低了这些孩子接受龋齿治疗的概率。这些结果在各种稳健性检验中都是一致的。机制分析显示，留守儿童和非留守儿童在碳酸饮料或含糖饮料的消费上没有显著差异。然而，与同龄人相比，留守儿童不太可能将父母视为主要支持来源，并且从父母那里获得的关于他们面临的挑战的积极沟通水平较低。
结论
该研究强调，虽然父母迁移并没有增加留守儿童患龋齿的患病率，但它导致了他们在获得治疗方面的不平等。鉴于未经治疗的龋齿的严重影响，需要有针对性地努力提高留守儿童的治疗率。
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