Hand and Object Mouthing of Rural Bangladeshi Children 3 18 Months Old
Children are exposed to environmental contaminants by placing contaminated hands or objects in their mouths. We quantified hand and object mouthing frequencies of Bangladeshi children and determined if they differ from those of U.S. children to evaluate the appropriateness of applying U.S. exposure models in other socio cultural contexts. We conducted a five hour structured observation of the mouthing behaviors of 148 rural Bangladeshi children aged 3 18 months. We modeled mouthing frequencies using 2 parameter Weibull distributions to compare the modeled medians with those of U.S. children. In Bangladesh the median frequency of hand mouthing was 37.3 contacts/h for children 3 6 months old, 34.4 contacts/h for children 6 12 months old, and 29.7 contacts/h for children 12 18 months old. The median frequency of object mouthing was 23.1 contacts/h for children 3 6 months old, 29.6 contacts/h for children 6 12 months old, and 15.2 contacts/h for children 12 18 months old. At all ages both hand and object mouthing frequencies were higher than those of U.S. children. Mouthing frequencies were not associated with child location (indoor/outdoor) Using hand and object mouthing exposure models from U.S. and other high income countries might not accurately estimate children's exposure to environmental contaminants via mouthing in low and middle income countries.
International journal of environmental research and public health