The prevalence of finger sucking habit among presch ool children in Kerman, Iran

BACKGROUND AND AIM:The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of finger sucking habit amongthree-six-year-old children from kindergartens of Kerman, Iran.METHODS:This descriptive, cross-sectional study used censussampling to select 1000 children from 40 kindergartens.Data was collected by a checklist and clinical examination. Chi-square test in SPSS16wasused for statistical analysis.RESULTS:The prevalence of finger sucking habit was 3.4%. There was no statistically significant relation betweengender and the habit. Pacifier sucking habit was not an influencing factor in finger sucking habit. Most children(47.06%) had received exclusive breastfeeding. Anterior open bite was seen in 50.00% of the children with fingersucking habit.CONCLUSIONS:This study showed the decreased prevalence of finger sucking habit compared to similar studies. Thisdifference might have been caused by the type of feeding (about 50% of the children in the present study were breast-fed).