Toothbrushing in relation to other health habits in Finland

The dimensionality of health behavior is disputable. In the present study an effort was made to shed more light on this problem. Interview data were obtained from 3209 13--19-year-old Finnish adolescents concerning the subjects' smoking habits, use of alcohol, physical activity, toothbrushing and dietary habits. A clear positive relationship was observed between toothbrushing and the use of sugar-containing snacks. Use of alcohol seemed to have slight adverse effect on toothbrushing. Smoking was also weakly related with sporadic toothbrushing. Sports-oriented girls seemed to be regular toothbrushers. It was concluded that the possible comprehensive nature of health behavior should be more appreciated.