“Think your drink” preventing dental caries in young Alaskan children

1. “Think your drink”preventing dental caries in young Alaskan children Presented by: tracygreggrd,ld NUTRItN572: Community Nutrition

2. Outline • Community Needs Assessment • Introduction to childhood caries • Project • Goals & Objectives • Evaluation • Conclusion • Questions

3. Community needs assessment • Limited access to affordable fresh fruits and vegetables • High cost of living limits the amount of funds that are available to purchase healthier foods options • The dietary habits of children may contribute to their high rate of dental caries • 30.1-35% of Alaska children are overweight or obese Northwest Arctic Borough

4. Introduction • In Alaska, young children in remote areas experience early childhood caries, or baby bottle tooth decay, rates as high as 25% and untreated decay as high as 75% (Department of Health and Social Services). • Children in families with low incomes have five times more untreated decay than children in higher income families. Nearly 80% of children living at or above the Federal Poverty Level had seen a dentist in the past year, compared to 62% of children below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (Women's Children and Family Health, 2005). • Approximately 80% of the children under the age of five seen at the Maniilaq Health Center Dental Clinic have dental decay. • Dental decay in Alaska Native children is 2.5 times higher than the national average.

5. Introduction CONT. • Early childhood caries are caused by frequent and prolonged exposure of the teeth to sugar along with the bacteria Streptococcus mutans and can occur in children by age one (Healthy Alaskans 2010). • This is often the result of a child going to bed with a bottle or drinking at will from a bottle during the day. • Milk, as well as fruit juices and soft drinks, contributes to this condition. • Pre-chewing food for young children also supports inoculation with Streptococcus mutans(Robertson MD 2009). • Nutrition education and counseling for the purposes of reducing caries in children is aimed at teaching parents the importance of reducing high frequency exposures to obvious and hidden sugars (N Tinaoff, 2003).

6. Project • The purpose of my nutrition education project was to build awareness in the residents who reside in the Northwest Arctic Borough about how to prevent dental caries in young children.

7. Goals & objectives • Goal 1: Develop and implement an educational activity for parents/caregivers who reside in the Northwest Arctic Borough about preventing dental decay in children under the age of five. • Objective 1: After reviewing the educational display on dental decay in children, participants will be able to correctly identify two ways to prevent dental decay in children. • Objective 2: After reviewing the educational display on dental decay in children, participants will be able to correctly identify how many teaspoons of sugar are in 16 ounces of Sprite.

8. Goals & objectives • Goal 2: To promote nutrition knowledge so that parents/caregivers who reside in the Northwest Arctic Borough can achieve a positive change in decreasing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in their children and prevent nutrition-related problems including dental caries. • Objective 1: To increase and promote efforts to reduce the frequency and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in children through PSA’s and brochures. • Objective 2: To increase and promote water consumption as a healthy alternative to sugar-sweetened beverages through PSA’s and brochures.

9. Radio psa • PSA on the importance of reducing the amount of sugar-sweetened beverages consumed by children

10. brochure • Brochure on how to reduce the amount of sugar-sweetened beverages consumed by children and how to wean a child from the bottle before the age of one

11. Display booth • Interactive display booth that was available at the Maniilaq Health Center. This display provided information on weaning children from the bottle, how to spot the early signs of tooth decay and the amount of sugar in a variety of popular sugar-sweetened beverages.

12. evaluation • By what age should you wean your child from the bottle?

13. evaluation Which of the following would NOT be a way to prevent tooth decay in a child?

14. evaluation Circle the beverages below that can cause tooth decay if they are put in a child’s bottle at bedtime.

15. evaluation How many teaspoons of sugar are in 16 ounces of Sprite?

16. Conclusion • Incentive items were successful in recruiting people to complete the knowledge test. • The booth was set up in a high traffic area which helped to increase participation. • May have been useful to do a pre-test and post-test to determine if their knowledge base changed after viewing the information. • Record another PSA using someone from the community. • Due to the high prevalence of childhood caries, efforts should be made to continue to address this issue.

17. References • Department of Health and Social Services. (2003). Retrieved October 1, 2011, from State of Alaska: http://hss.state.ak.us/dph/wcfh/oralhealth/docs/dental-dma-actionplan.pdf • Women's Children and Family Health. (2005, April). Retrieved September 30, 2011, from State of Alaska: www.epi.hss.state.ak.us/mchepi/pubs/facts/fs2005na_v3_03.pdf • Healthy Alaskans 2010. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1, 2011, from State of Alaska: http://hss.state.ak.us/dph/targets/ha2010/PDFs/13_Oral_Health.pdf • Dee Robertson MD, M. P. (2009, November). Professional Resources. Retrieved September 29, 2011, from American Dental Association: http://www.ada.org/sections/professionalResources/pdfs/topics_caries_symposium.pdf • N Tinaoff, C. A. (2003). Dietary determinants of dental caries and dietary recommendations for preschool children. Journal of Public Health in Dentistry, 8-23.

18. Questions?