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Children's mouthing and food-handling behavior in an agricultural community on the US/Mexico border

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Abstract

Children's mouthing and food-handling activities were measured during a study of nondietary ingestion of pesticides in a south Texas community. Mouthing data on 52 children, ranging in age from 7 to 53 months, were collected using questionnaires and videotaping. Data on children's play and hand-washing habits were also collected. Children were grouped into four age categories: infants (7–12 months), 1-year-olds (13–24 months), 2-year-olds (25–36 months) and preschoolers (37–53 months). The frequency and type of events prompting hand washing did not vary by age category except for hand washing after using the bathroom; this increased with increasing age category. Reported contact with grass and dirt also increased with increasing age category. The median hourly hand-to-mouth frequency for the four age groups ranged from 9.9 to 19.4, with 2-year-olds having the lowest frequency and preschoolers having the highest. The median hourly object to mouth frequency ranged from 5.5 to 18.1 across the four age categories; the frequency decreased as age increased (adjusted R2=0.179; P=0.003). The median hourly hand-to-food frequency for the four age groups ranged from 10.0 to 16.1, with the highest frequency being observed in the 1-year-olds. Hand-to-mouth frequency was associated with food contact frequency, particularly for children over 12 months of age (adjusted R2=0.291; P=0.002). The frequency and duration of hand-to-mouth, object-to-mouth and food-handling behaviors were all greater indoors than outdoors. Infants were more likely to remain indoors than children in other age groups. The time children spent playing on the floor decreased with increasing age (adjusted R2=0.096; P=0.031). Parental assessment was correlated with hand-to-mouth activity but not with object-to-mouth activity. The highest combined (hand and object) mouthing rates were observed among infants, suggesting that this age group has the greatest potential for exposure to environmental toxins.

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Acknowledgements

This project was supported by EPA STAR Grant No. R827440 and NIEHS grants to the Center for Environmental Health Sciences in Piscataway, NJ (P30-ES-05022) and the Center for Environmental and Rural Health at Texas A&M University (P30-ES-09106). This study would not have been possible without the cooperation and assistance of the Sisters of Mercy of Laredo, Texas and, in particular, Sister Rosemarie Welch.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (a jointly sponsored institute of Rutgers the State University of New Jersey and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey), Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

    Kathleen Black, Stuart L Shalat, Natalie C G Freeman & Marta Jimenez

  2. Center for Environmental and Rural Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA

    Kirby C Donnelly & James A Calvin

Authors
  1. Kathleen Black
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  2. Stuart L Shalat
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  3. Natalie C G Freeman
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  4. Marta Jimenez
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  5. Kirby C Donnelly
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  6. James A Calvin
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Correspondence to Kathleen Black.

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Black, K., Shalat, S., Freeman, N. et al. Children's mouthing and food-handling behavior in an agricultural community on the US/Mexico border. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 15, 244–251 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500398

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500398

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