AUTHOR=Hornsby Wyatt C. , Bailey William , Braun Patricia A. , Weiss Karl , Heichelbech James 

TITLE=Busting the Baby Teeth Myth and Increasing Children’s Consumption of Tap Water: Building Public Will for Children’s Oral Health in Colorado

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 5 - 2017

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00238

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2017.00238

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=Question: Can a multi-faceted statewide communications campaign motivate behavior change in low-income Colorado families to limit children’s juice consumption and increase children’s consumption of water to prevent tooth decay?

Authors: Wyatt Hornsby, M.A., William Bailey, D.D.S., M.P.H., Patricia A. Braun, MD, MPH, FAAP, Karl Weiss, M.B.A., James Heichelbech, PhD, MPA

Purpose: Caries is the most common chronic disease of childhood, affecting 40% of kindergartners and 55% of third-graders in Colorado. Frequent exposure to juice is linked to childhood caries. The purpose of this campaign, “Cavities Get Around,” was to motivate families to limit children’s juice consumption and increase consumption of water to protect baby teeth from caries, while also building public will for children’s oral health. 

Methods: The campaign included targeted media, promotores/organizers, and family education. We focused on juice because audience research showed many families view it as healthy, and it is also a common beverage among young children up to age 6. We also focused on low-socioeconomic status families because data show higher childhood tooth decay rates in this population. To evaluate progress, we conducted identical pre and post surveys, each of 600 random low-income parents contacted by landline, mobile telephone, and Internet, allowing for comparative data.

Results: Significant progress was achieved compared to 2014 baseline results. Findings from a November 2015 statewide survey of parents included:

• 22-point increase from 2014 in percentage of children regularly drinking tap water (from 41% to 63%). 
• 29-point decrease from 2014 in percentage of respondents who considered juice important to their child’s health and nutritional needs (from 72% to 43%).
• 19-point reduction in juice consumption among young children (from 66% in 2014 to 47% in 2015).
• 7-point reduction in percentage of parents considering baby teeth “less important” than adult teeth (from 21% in 2014 to 15% in 2015).

The campaign also played a role in new state rules prohibiting childcare centers from serving sugar-sweetened beverages in and capping 100% juice to twice per week.

Conclusions: The campaign development, strategies, and evaluation results are instructive for others working on health promotion, childhood nutrition, and education interventions.