ABSTRACT
Purpose:
to identify the association between dietary habits and speech development in preschool children.
Methods:
case-control study, with sample constituted of 273 children enrolled in Municipal Daycare Centers in Recife. It was researched the association of outcome with the variables related to socioeconomic characteristics, nutritive and not nutritious sucking habits and development of the stomatognathic system. We used the software STATA/SE 9.0 and Excel 2007 to calculate the risk measure, Odds Ratio with a confidence interval of 95%, plus the value of p≤0.05. To verify the existence of association, it was adopted the chi-square test for categorical variables.
Results:
concerning the speech disorders, it was verified significant association in males. Yet, sucking habits were not significantly associated with the outcome studied. Regarding the stomatognathic system, it was registered significant association on speech disorders, especially regarding the habitual posture of the lips and tongue, as well as the presence of malocclusion. There was no significant association between food consistency and the variable studied event.
Conclusion:
the food consistency demonstrated a significant association with variables that impact on the proper physiology of the stomatognathic system, in terms of phono-articulatory organs and function performance, can be inferred that eating patterns and speech constitute a convergence point in child health.
Keywords:
Speech; Feeding; Stomatognathic System; Speech Disorders; Child Development; Feeding Behavior
