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

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of finger sucking habit among three-six-year-old children from kindergartens of Kerman, Iran. This descriptive, cross-sectional study used census sampling to select 1000 children from 40 kindergartens. Data was collected by a checklist and clinical examination. Chi-square test in SPSS16 wasused for statistical analysis. The prevalence of finger sucking habit was 3.4%. There was no statistically significant relation between gender 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 finger sucking habit. This study showed the decreased prevalence of finger sucking habit compared to similar studies. This difference might have been caused by the type of feeding (about 50% of the children in the present study were breast-fed).