Orthodontic aspects on feeding of young children. 1. A comparison between Swedish and Norwegian-Sami children.

1-18 months old Norwegian-Sami girls from Karasjok/Katokeino were compared with girls from Falköping in Sweden. All Karasjok/Kautokeino children were breastfed, usually until 1 year of age. Only a few developed a dummy- or fingersucking habit. They started eating porridge at 4-5 months of age. At about half a year of age they were fed dark, hard chewing bread to gnaw at. Cut and pulped adult food was introduced during the end of the first year of life. In almost all cases the children had dried reindeer meat to gnaw at. They were mostly fed by spoon and drank from a cup. The Falköping girls, on the other hand, were not so often breastfed and for a shorter time. They usually became dummysuckers. The Falköping girls got almost all their nutrition during the first one or two years by sucking or eating food with little chewing resistance. The differences in sucking and chewing behavior could influence on the transversal development of the jaws.