Hispanic youth report better dental habits

New York -- A study of 3,200 children ages 12 to 16 in New York City found Hispanic youth report better dental health habits than their non-Hispanic peers.

Researchers at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York analyzed data from questionnaires filled out by the youth and clinical exams performed during each child's visit to a school-based dental clinic. The teens lived in Central Harlem and Washington Heights/Inwood and 94 percent of the youth responding to the study were Hispanic or black.

The study, published in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, found cavities in 52 percent of the Hispanic participants and 54 percent of the black youth.

Ninety-four percent of Hispanic youths reported that they brush daily compared with 83 percent of blacks and 85 percent of the other children in the study. Hispanic youths were also more likely to floss.

Study co-author Luisa N. Borrell said that overall, dental health and health promoting habits of the Hispanic children were better than the other participants in the study.

© 2007 United Press International.