Honors Program Theses

Award/Availability

Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)

First Advisor

Mark Grey

Keywords

Hispanic American children--Dental care--Iowa; Hispanic American children--Health and hygiene--Iowa;

Abstract

In order for a country to maintain and improve their well being, it is important for its residents to be healthy. However, the U.S. Latino/Hispanic population continues to experience health disparities when compared to other ethnic minorities and white individuals. Although various health issues are more prevalent among Latinos, such as diabetes, one important health problem that needs to be further investigated among Latinos/Hispanics is that of dental health. Having good dental health means that individuals are less likely to develop dental diseases, will be able to properly communicate with others, and will have a great sense of self-esteem. However, Latinos/Hispanics are least likely to have dental insurance or visit a dentist on a regular basis. Children are at particular risk for not being taken to see a dentist at the recommended age because of lack of health insurance and/or because of parental health behaviors. Due to the mentioned reasons, the focus of this study is on Latino children age five and younger in the Des Moines, Iowa area. The study attempts to analyze the dental health problems that some of the children may be encountering as well as what the parents may be doing to combat that problem. In addition, this study also provides insight into parental dental health behavior and how this behavior affects the children's dental health.

Year of Submission

2008

Department

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology

Department

McNair Scholars Program at UNI

University Honors Designation

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the designation University Honors

Date Original

2008

Object Description

45 p.

Language

EN

File Format

application/pdf

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