Cross sectional study of the prevalence of fruit beverage consumption and oral health behaviours among parents of young children in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Background: There are high rates of child dental caries in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Education focuses on sugary drink consumption, primarily soft drinks. However, fruit beverages are commonly provided to young children by parents. Frequency of consumption of fruit beverages is adversely associated with dental caries and tooth wear. Objectives: To investigate oral health awareness and practices around fruit beverages in parents and caregivers of young children in Auckland, New Zealand. Methods: 147 parent and primary caregivers of children aged between 1-10 years participated in a cross-sectional survey in 2015. Participants were recruited from early childhood health and education institutions throughout Auckland and completed a questionnaire on awareness of dental behaviours and activities around fruit beverages. Descriptive statistics described the data and associations were calculated using Chi-square. Results: Participants reported a higher consumption of fruit beverages by children over the weekend compared to weekdays (60% v 33% =1 time/day respectively). The parents and caregivers demonstrated awareness of both protective oral health practices, and harmful behaviours, around fruit beverage consumption. There was no association between parental awareness of harmful fruit beverage behaviours and protective dental practices. Two individual associations were found. Parents who rated "juice with meals is harmful" highly were likely to be higher in "milk and water only given" practices. Likewise, a high rating for "juice drunk every 20-30 min" was more likely to be higher in "I dilute the juice with water" practice. Dental practitioners were the primary source of oral health advice for their children. Conclusions: Parental awareness around protective and harmful behaviours of fruit beverage consumption varied. The focus of oral health promotion activities to parents of young children around sugary drinks should include the harmful effects, and protective oral health practices, of fruit beverages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]