Technical Report - Donegal Traveller's Project

All Ireland Traveller Health StudySection B2: 5-year-old Child HealthGeneral SummaryA majority (74.6% in ROI and 80.3% in NI) of mothers rated their 5-year-old’s health as either excellent orvery good, and the pattern did not differ for males and females. Almost all (96.1% in ROI and 93.4% inNI) reported receiving needles or vaccinations, peaking at 12-15 months.Most also reported their children washed their teeth at least daily (94.8% in ROI and 93.4% in NI), againcomparable among sexes. Only around a third of children in ROI (36.4%) had seen a dentist in the last12 months, compared to 78.7% in NI.9 out of 10 children of both sexes had already started primary school in both ROI and NI. Similarly, 9 outof 10 children had their first meal of the day between 7 and 9 a.m. (90.9% ROI and 91.7% NI).Most children were reported as in the normal weight range (93.2% ROI and 82.0% NI). A majority ofchildren were reported as eating most things (57.8% ROI and 66.7% NI, whilst a fifth in ROI (20.5%) and atenth in NI (11.7%) were described as fussy eaters.CommentaryComparable data were available on 199 Lifeways 5-year-olds whose mothers held medical cards. Similarnumbers of Lifeways 5-year-olds surveyed had started primary school (87.2% vs. 90.1% of ROI and 90.2%of NI Traveller 5-year-olds). Compared with 7.6% of Lifeways parents, 4.5% of ROI Travellers and 6.6%of NI Travellers thought that their 5-year-old was underweight. In contrast, 2.3% of ROI Travellers and11.7% of NI Travellers thought that their child was overweight, compared with 8.2% of Lifeways parents.Regarding diet, most Traveller children and Lifeways children were deemed to eat a reasonable varietyof foods, with 20.5% of 5-year-old ROI Traveller children, 11.7% of 5-year-old NI Traveller children and20.7% of 5-year-old Lifeways children described as ‘picky eaters’. Parents add salt to their child’s food inthe Traveller group more frequently than in the Lifeways group (Figure 13).Figure 13: Usually add salt to child’s food while cooking, in the AITHS and Lifeways5-year-old group60% of 5-year-old children50403020100ROI Travellers NI Travellers Lifeways GMS ROI Travellers NI Travellers Lifeways GMSAdd regular saltAdd Lo Salt198