Abstract
For effective prevention of dental caries in infants in some localities, it is necessary that we are aware of the nursing environment including nursing methods, dietary habits, tooth brushing habits, and so on, in those localities.
On the basis of the questionnaires to the mothers of 267 infants at the age of one and a half years in the same area, the nursing environment was investigated.
The results obtained were as follows:
1. Of the mothers,36.7% were employed, and about 70% of them were full-time employees.
2. Of the children, about 24% till 6 months after birth, about 27% from 6 months till one year, and about 30% from one year till one and a half years were reared by their grandmothers through the daylight hours.
3. Of the means of feeding, bottle feeding was 41.6%, mixed feeding was 28.1%, and breast feeding was 22.5%. The rates of irregular suckling, suckling a baby lying on the bed, and delayed start and completion of weaning were higher than in other localities.
4. A great number of mothers of infants who had breast or bottle feeding habits while sleeping answered that they did not think it was wrong.
5. More than 50% of the infants ate between-meal snacks, irregularly.
6. The rate of regular tooth brushing was very low,16.9%.
