Immigrant Parents’ Knowledge and Attitudes: Sociodemographic Variation Related to Restriction of Children’s Sugar Intake

Purpose: Focusing on immigrant parents with children aged 0–6 months, this study assessed whether awareness of and attitudes towards restricting children’s sugar consumption vary according to family sociodemographic background and parents’ oral-health–related behaviours.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted including immigrant parents attending child public health centers for vaccination of their children. The study included parents born in Asia, Africa, South America, Central America and Eastern Europe. Parents from Western Europe and North America were included if they were partners of the above-mentioned participants. Cross-tabulation and multiple variable logistic regression were used to assess associations of parental knowledge and attitudes with their child’s sugar intake and sociodemographic characteristics.
Results: Overall, response rate was 72.6%. A total of 345 parents completed personal, structured interviews during their visit to the health centers. Attitudes and knowledge, but not indulgence, related to children’s sugar restriction were sociodemographically unequally distributed among immigrant parents. Employed mothers, mothers with immigrant background from North America or Western Europe as well as parents with less frequent own sugar intake were more likely to confirm positive attitudes towards restricting children’s sugar snacking. The corresponding odds ratios were OR=1.8 (95% CI 1.1–3.1) and OR=6.6 (95% CI 2.3–18.9). Employed mothers and parents having received dental care information were more likely than their counterparts to possess good oral-health–related knowledge.
Conclusion: Parents from sociodemographically disadvantaged backgrounds were less inclined to express positive attitudes and demonstrate sufficient knowledge regarding the limitation of their children’s sugar snacking. Culturally adapted oral health intervention programs should be implemented for immigrants, with special reference to children’s dietary habits. Keywords: attitude, children, immigrant, knowledge, sugar consumption