Evaluation of knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported behaviors among 3-5 year old school children using an oral health and nutrition intervention

Abstract

Methods: Ninety 3-5 year old children, 43 in the control group and 47 in the intervention group, participated in the study. An age and developmental appropriate prop-based oral health and nutrition intervention program was used. Subjects in the intervention group received a pre-test, an 8-10 minute prop-supported intervention, followed by an immediate post-test. The same test was repeated two weeks later. The control group received a pre-test and post-test two weeks later but no intervention. Results: Intervention improved scores in the immediate post-test but these improvements were not sustained two weeks later. The only positive relationship found for the entire group between pre-and two week post-test scores was for oral health knowledge. There were no significant findings when adjusted for race, intervention type or group. Conclusions: Changing oral health and nutrition knowledge, attitude and behavior may require intense and repetitive interventions to have a significant effect in this age cohort.