The impact of a school-based tooth-brushing program on dental caries: a cross-sectional study

Table 1 Lifestyle behaviors, school environment for after-lunch tooth-brushing, and community characteristics of children, 2008–2013 (n = 2043)

	Total		Male		Female		P¹
	n	%	n	%	n	%	P¹
All Children	2043	100%	1084	53.1%	959	46.9%
Lifestyle behaviors
Do you eat breakfast on every school day?
Yes	1954	95.6%	1033	95.3%	921	96.0%	0.412
No	89	4.4%	51	4.7%	38	4.0%
Do you always eat green and yellow vegetables?
Yes	901	44.1%	462	42.6%	439	45.8%	0.151
No	1142	55.9%	622	57.4%	520	54.2%
How often do you eat sweet snacks in a week?
≤ 2 days	972	47.6%	541	49.9%	431	44.9%	0.025*
≥ 3 days	1071	52.4%	543	50.1%	528	55.1%
How often do you drink sweetened drinks in a week?
≤ 2 days	1145	56.0%	579	53.4%	566	59.0%	0.011*
≥ 3 days	898	44.0%	505	46.6%	393	41.0%
Do you use toothpaste containing fluoride for brushing?
Yes	948	46.4%	497	45.8%	451	47.0%	0.594
No/Not Sure	1095	53.6%	587	54.2%	508	53.0%
School environment
School has after-lunch tooth-brushing time
Yes	568	27.8%	301	27.8%	267	27.8%	0.970
No	1475	72.2%	783	72.2%	692	72.2%
Community characteristics
Percentage of single-parent families in community (%)
Q1 (7.54–9.59)	508	24.9%	274	25.3%	234	24.4%	0.692
Q2 (9.94–10.99)	552	27.0%	283	26.1%	269	28.1%
Q3 (11.00–11.78)	424	20.8%	222	20.5%	202	21.1%
Q4 (11.86–16.17)	559	27.4%	305	28.1%	254	26.5%
Percentage of university graduates in community (%)
Q1 (28.21–38.48)	470	23.0%	259	23.9%	211	22.0%	0.515
Q2 (25.14–26.98)	615	30.1%	312	28.8%	303	31.6%
Q3 (22.70–24.13)	437	21.4%	232	21.4%	205	21.4%
Q4 (12.83–21.11)	521	25.5%	281	25.9%	240	25.0%

ISSN: 1347-4715