2024 Volume 28 Issue 3 Pages 151-160
As the number of child development support centers (CDSC) is on the increase, dietary support, improvement of oral functions and guidance on oral hygiene management are also considered to belong to child development support services. In the Japanese city where this study was conducted, there is only one CDSC, and it was considered that there is a high regional need for the CDSC to take over the provision of developmental support from university hospitals, etc., which provided this function immediately after childbirth, and to provide continuous support in cooperation with local hospitals. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the challenges related to dietary and oral function/hygiene of the children using the CDSC, as well as the needs of their parents.
A questionnaire survey was conducted for the parents of 60 children who use the CDSC in that city. The questionnaire included basic information, eating behaviors, oral functions/hygiene, parents’ difficulties regarding their children’s diet and oral health, and desire to receive dietary guidance for the child. For statistical analysis of the questionnaire results, a chi-square test was conducted using “desire to receive dietary guidance for the child” as the dependent variable and the other questionnaire items as independent variables.
The questionnaire results showed a collection rate of 61.7%, a mean age of 4.9±1.2 years, and a gender breakdown of 79.4% male and 20.6% female. In the eating behaviors section, 29.4% of parents had received dietary guidance/advice for their children. The survey also showed that 70.6% used a child’s chair at mealtimes. In the oral function/hygiene section, 58.8% said their children’s mouths are always open, and 41.2% of the children had abnormal findings during dental checkups. Moreover, 67.6% of parents had concerns about diets and oral functions/hygiene of their children, and 64.7% of parents wanted to receive dietary guidance for their children. Regarding the desire to receive dietary guidance, the rates of using a child chair (p＜0.05) and having concerns about diets and oral functions/hygiene (p＜0.05) were significantly higher among those with such desire.
The results showed that there was a high local need for the CDSC, and that CDSC users faced many dietary and oral function/hygiene-related problems, which were of concern for their parents. Therefore, it is important that specialized personnel are involved from an early stage to assess the child’s condition appropriately and give support on how to provide food and improve perioral muscle function.
