A Field Study
On
Food habit
and its
effect on
oral health
in a
rural area of Cumilla
District
Guided By
Sharmin Shahria
Deputy Director (BARD)
Prepared By
Dr. Panna Begum (Roll-07)
Dr. Sabrina Akter (Roll-12)
182nd Special Foundation Training Course Health cadre
Officials
Bangladesh Academy For Rural Development
Kotbari, Cumilla.
Acknowledgement
We express our profound gratitude to our respected guide Sharmin
Shahria Deputy Director (BARD) for her kind co-operation, guidance,
encouragement & valuable suggestions in the preparation of this Field
Study report.
We would like to thank our honorable DG, BARD, Course director, Director
(Training), Course Coordinator & Assistant Course Coordinator & our
beloved Course mates of Special Foundation Training Course for their loving
& helping attitude during the training.
Dr. Panna Begum (Roll-07)
Dr. Sabrina Akter (Roll-12)
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Table of Content
Contents Page No.
1. Introduction 01
1.1 Context 01
1.2 objective 02
1.3 Scope of the study 02
1.4 Method of the study 03
1.5 Data entry and Data analysis 03
1.6 Limitation of the study 03
2. Result and discussion 04
3. Major findings 12
4. Conclusions and recommendation con 13
4.1 Conclusion 13
4.2 Recommendations. 14
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1. Introduction
1. Context
Food habits play a significant role in maintaining oral health. A balanced diet
with proper nutrients is essential for healthy teeth and gum. Food rich in
calcium like dairy products supports tooth enamel and prevent decay, while
vitamin-c from fruits like Amoloki, guava, green chili etc helps strength gums
and prevent bleeding or inflammation.
However, poor food habits, such as excessive consumption of sugary and acidic
foods can be harmful to oral health. Sugary snacks and beverages promote the
growth of harmful bacteria in the mouth, which produces acid that erode the
enamel, leading to cavities. Frequent snacking also gives bacteria more
opportunities to thrive and attack the teeth.
Acidic foods, drinks like citrus fruits, tea, coffee can wear down tooth enamel
over time, leading to sensitivity and higher risk to decay. Sticky foods such as
candies, biscuit get trapped in between teeth, promoting bacterial and plaque
formation.
In addition, inadequate hydration can lead to dry mouth which reduce saliva
production. Saliva is essential for neutralizing acids and washing away food
particle. Fiber containg food such as leafy vegetables, herbages washed away
food particles, stimulate saliva flow; reduce the risk of teeth and gum
diseases.
Maintaining well-rounded, low-sugar, nutrient rich diet is the key to supporting
long term health.
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2. Objective
1. General: To see the food habit in rural areas and its effects on oral
health
2. Specific
1. To see the food habit and its positive effects on oral health
2. To see the food habit and its negative effects on oral health.
1.3 Scope of the study
The study case was conducted in Fenua village. 30 cases were selected from 25
Family of the village. Respondents are 15-70 years age group people. The area
covered by the study were
Age of the respondent
Educational Background
Brushing habit
Food habit
Some oral disease
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1.4 Methods of the study
Study Design - Descriptive
Place of Study - Fenua village of
Cumilla Study population - 30 people
Date of study - 5th March,
Source of Data - Primary
Data collection Method - Direct interview method using semi
structured questionnaires
Sample collection method - convenient sampling
1.5 Data Entry and Data Analysis
Data were check manually after collection, then validity was ensured by using
computer programme. MS Excel was used for data entry. Most data were
presented through tabular form, bar diagram and pie chart
1.6 Limitation of the study:
There are some limitations in the study such as
The study was conducted in a confined geographic area
Short time frame allocated for the study
Number of data is not adequate for Study to represent the
area
Many parameter were not taken into account.
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2. Result and discussion
Age of the respondents:
In our study, all people belongs to 15-70 years age. Among them, most of them
are in between 25-34 years is about 26%, in between 15-24 years 10%, 10 % in
between 35-44 years, 17% in between 45 to 54 years and 65-75 years
respectively. The ranges of age are shown in percentage in the following bar
diagram.
35%
30%
30%
27%
25%
20%
17%
15%
10% 10%
10%
7%
5%
0%
15-24 years 25-34 years 35-44 years 45-54 years 55-64 years 65-
75 years
Figure-1: Age of the respondents
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Frequency of tooth brushing:
Most of the respondents brushing their teeth once in a day. Between age group
of 15-24 years 14% brush once and twice in a day equally, 25-34 years age
group 10% and 14% twice and once respectively, 35-44 years 14% twice and
7% once;
45 to 54 years 3% twice, 7% once and 3% thrice; 55-64 years 10% twice and
3%
once; 65-74 years 3% brush their teeth once in a day. All information about
frequency of brushing is given below in bar diagram:
4 4 4 4
4
3.5
3 3
3
2.5
2 2
2
1.5
1 1 1 1
1
0.5
0 0 0 0
0 0 0
15-24 years 25-34 years 35-44 years 45-54 years 55-64 years 65-
75 years
2 Time 1 Time 3 Time
Figure-2: Frequency of tooth brushing according to age
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Duration of tooth brushing
Among 30 respondents, mostly brushing their teeth about 70% within 30s-
1 minute. Secondly, 23% for 2 minutes, 3.5% for 3 minutes and 3.5% for 5
minutes brushing their teeth. The following bar diagram showing the duration
of tooth brushing:
5 Minutes 1
3 Minutes 1
2 Minutes 7
30S-1 Minutes 21
0 5 10 15 20 25
Figure 3: Percentage of Duration of tooth brushing
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Frequency of taking food:
Among 30 respondents, 46% people take for 3 times, 40% people for 4 times,
7% people for 2 times and 5 times taking food respectively. Below the bar
diagram showing frequency of taking food:
14
14 12
12
10
8
6
3
4 2
2
0
2 time 3 Time 4 Time 5 Time
Figure 4: Percentage of Frequency of taking food
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Drinking of water after consumption of tea, coffee:
Among 30 respondents, 34% drink water and rest 66% don’t drink water after
tea/ coffee consumption. The inforamtion in presented below in pie chart:
34%
Yes
No
66%
Figure 4: Percentage of Consumption of tea/coffee
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Taking fibre rich food:
70% respondents daily taking fibre rich food, 30% respondents don’t like to
take fibre rich food. It is showing in following pie chart:
30%
Yes
No
70%
Figure 5: Percentage of Taking fibre reiched food
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Oral diseases among the respondents:
Among 30% respondents, 34% (10) faces gum bluding, 57% (17) sensitevity
and 27% (8) have experience ulceration for several times:
57%
60%
50%
40% 34%
27%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Gum bleeding Sensitivity Ulceration
Figure 6: Percentage Oral diseases among the
respondents
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Consumption of dairy product:
The result show that among 30 respondents, 26 person do not have
consumption of dairy product, only 4 person have consumption of dairy
product daily. The following pie chart showing the result:
14%
Yes
No
86%
Figure 7: Percentage of dairy product consumption
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3. Finding of the study:
Almost all the people brushing their teeth minimum once in a day.
54% people brushing their teeth once in a day, 46% twice in a day among
30 people
70% of people brushing their teeth for 30s-1 min, 23% people for 2 min,
3.5% for 3 min and 3.5% for 4 min.
70% of people consume fiber rich food regularly
A very poor number people its about 14% consume dairy product
everyday
3.4% people complaint bleeding their gum and 57% people for
sensitivity
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4. Conclusions and Recommendation
1. Conclusion
In our field study we have studied about food habit and its effects on oral health
in a rural area of Comilla district.
Our main objective was to assess the food habit among the rural people. We
found that people are conscious about the oral health. But they have lack of
knowledge. They don’t know how many time should brushing there teeth, what
should be the duration, what should be their food habit for good oral health.
Regarding oral health problem, they noticed gum bleeding, cavity, sensitivity,
burning sensation on oral cavity.
Social health programme regarding oral health and the off oral health will be
beneficial to them.
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4.2 Recommendation:
A massive awareness should be implemented in the rural areas to improve
people awareness as follows:
Promotion of health education programme about oral health.
Media may take a great role health to provide up fruitful information
about oral health.
Government could also help to increase awareness regarding oral health.
Government could also help to increase the awareness regarding oral
health through different media.
How to maintain oral health may be included in the textbook of primary
and high school.
At least one oral health awareness programme should conducted in a
primary education institute every year.
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