Browsing by Subject "leikki-ikäiset"

Objectives. Parents of preschool children need to consider several questions concerning the children’s use of digital media. Should they limit the screen time strictly or act more freely according to the situation? The existing research on the topic is varied and mostly concerns school aged children and adolescents. The aim of the study was to find out whether parents of preschoolers consider themselves get enough support and information to help in decision making concerning digital media use. Research questions were: What kind of experiences do parents of preschoolers have of their children’s digital media use? What kind of support do parents wish to have and what kinds of wishes do they have? Methodology. The research material was attained through interviewing five parents of preschool children concerning their experiences of children’s digital media use. The material was analyzed through content analysis. Results and conclusions. The parents identified several positive and negative effects that digital media use has on children. They had diverse, well-functioning procedures when it comes to screen time, restrictions and rules. Both the parents applying strict restrictions and the ones who restrict only a little did implement principles of dialogical parenthood. Parents expressed a need to get much more material and support for preschoolers’ media education than they do at present. They wished to get more support both from child welfare clinics and from daycare. Parents of preschoolers could be supported in media education through available material and support at child welfare clinics and at daycare. The effects of this kind of support on the everyday life of families and parents’ experiences of media education could be further researched for example through intervention or case study.

Abstract Introduction: Vegetarian diets have become more popular in the last decades in Western countries including Finland. In Finland it is estimated that approximately 2-5 % of adults are vegetarian. Vegetarianism is most popular amongst young women and for that it is presumable for vegetarianism to become more common also in families with children. There are only few studies concerning the vegetarianism amongst children and families in Finland and the knowledge is not up to date. Aims: The aim of the study was to compare the food intake between children living in vegetarian families and children living in non-vegetarian families. Additionally, this study aimed to examine the role of parent’s educational background in the differences found in the childrens diet. Also the food environment of the families was investigated and compared between vegetarian and non-vegetarian families. Material and methods: The material of this study is from the DAGIS –Study. A total of 66 preschools and 864 children from Southern and Western Finland participated in the Study. In this thesis childrens food frequency questionnaire (FFQ; n=783) was used. The data for educational background and food environment were collected with separate forms filled by the quardian of the child. The families were divided into two groups, vegetarian and non-vegetarian families. The frequency of consumption of food groups was compared between children living in vegetarian families and children living in non-vegetarian families by using Mann Whitney U –test. The education was taken into account in a multilevel regression models (SAS 9.4) and the food environments were compared using Chi-Square –test. Results: There were 30 vegetarian families (in which there were 35 children) and 670 non-vegetarian families (in which there were 748 children). Only 5 children were vegetarian and in all but one family at least the mom was a vegetarian. The children living in vegetarian families used vegetables (p=0,002), fruits and berries (p=0,032), juices (p=0,005), plant proteins (p<0,001) and fish (p=0,001) more of than children in non-vegetarian families. They also used less meat (p<0,001), sugar containing food (p=0,029) and sugar cointaining beverages (p<0,001). All the associations, apart from fruits and berries, remained significant after adjusting the models with education. In addition, the parents in the vegetarian families reported that they showed the child that they liked eating vegetables (p=0,044), offered vegetables, fruits and berries for the child as a snack (p<0,001) and had more vegetables (p=0,016), berries and fruits (p=0,005) at home more ofthen than parents in non-vegetarian families. Conclusions: According to this study the maternal vegetarian diet is strongly associated with the childrens diet, even though the child was not a vegetarian. The children living in vegetarian families used healthy foods more often and less frequently some of the foods, like sugary beverages, which are recommended to be reduced in the diet. These differences in diet were not explained by the higher educational level of the family.

Introduction: Information about toddlers’ and pre-schoolers special diets in Finland is scarce. Out of Finnish 1-6-year olds, 63 % attend day care. According to the day care food recommendations, 2/3 of the daily energy needs of children attending full-time day care should be provided during day care hours, which should also fulfil the set nutritional and quality criteria. The day care food services are facing more challenges due to food allergies, and also due to the number of children following religious diets increasing as an effect of increased immigration. Some food allergy-related avoidance diets may be unfoundedly maintained, since children usually recover quickly from food allergies. Aims: The aim of this study was to decipher the prevalence and types of special diets children in the metropolitan area day care centres adhere to, and to investigate what kind of challenges are associated with the general practices considering the apprising of special diets. Additionally, this study aimed to investigate the distribution of special diets in relation to age, gender and city. This study also intended to examine whether a connection between the prevalence of special diets by day care centre and regional socioeconomic factors exists. Material and methods: The cross-sectional data was collected from municipally catered day care centres in Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa during 2012-2013. 41 day care centres with in total 3 216 children were included in the study. Data of children adhering to special diets was retrieved from special diet-forms, medical certificates and kitchens. Children were divided into different special diet groups based on the reported data. Special diet distributions among other variables were studied with the Pearson Chi square-test. The relation of socioeconomic factors and the prevalence of special diets were tested with the Spearman bivariate correlation analysis. This study is a part of the LILLA-study, which aims to improve the nutrition and allergy-related health of pre- schoolers. Results: Out of the 3 216 children 19 % (n=609) adhered to a special diet. The discovered diets and their prevalences were the following: allergy-related 7,4 % (n=238), lactose-restricted 3,3 % (n=105), ethical or religious diets 7,6 % (n=245), and special diets for other reasons 0,7% (n=21), of the total. A difference was discovered in the special diet distribution according to city (p<0,000): allergy-related diets were most prevalent in Vantaa and ethical or religious diets in Helsinki. A difference was also discovered in the age distribution of special diets (p<0,012): children following an allergy-related diet were younger than children with other special diets (p<0,041). Also, avoiding dairy and egg was discovered to be more common among younger children (p<0,048 and p<0,043). The most often avoided foodstuffs among allergy diets were milk, egg, nuts and almond, and fruit. Lactose-restrictions were more common among older children (p<0,006) and the most prevalent lactose-restriction was a complete restriction. Among ethical or religious diets, diets where pork was forbidden were the most common. Of vegetarian diets, pesco-vegetarian diets were discovered to be the most common. Ethical or religious diets were positively associated with lactose- restricted diets (p<0,000). Special diet-forms required to notify day care centres about special diets were found for 71 % (n=431) of participant following special diets. Medical certificates were found in 53 % (n=156) of the diets where a certificate was demanded. Out-dated information was found in both types of documentation. A reversed connection was discovered in the association between the prevalence of ethical or religious diets and income by day care region (p<0,015, r=-0,379). Conclusions: A fifth of the children in municipal day care centres adhered to a special diet. The most frequent special diets were allergy-related and diets based on ethical decisions or religious beliefs. Allergy diets were mainly exercised in Vantaa and ethical or religious diets in Helsinki. Allergy-related diets were more common among younger and lactose-restricted diets among older children. Ethical or religious diets were associated with lower income. Based on this study, it seems like there is a need for improvements considering the general practices related to special diet apprising in day care centres. Further research about the differences in general practises implemented by each city is ought to be carried out.

Arvioiden mukaan noin 30 000 suomalaislasta kokee vuosittain vanhempiensa eron ja alle kouluikäisistä lapsista noin joka seitsemäs asuu yhden vanhemman kanssa. Vanhempien eron kokeneiden lasten hyvinvointia on tutkittu kansainvälisesti melko runsaasti, ja vanhempien eron kokemisen yhteys lapsen käytösongelmiin on tunnistettu lukuisissa tutkimuksissa. Vähemmän tiedetään kuitenkin siitä, onko yhteyden kannalta väliä sillä, kuinka kauan erosta on. Myös erityisesti alle kouluikäisiin lapsiin keskittyvää tutkimusta on aikaisemmin tehty vain vähän. Tämän maisterintutkielman päätavoitteena on selvittää, onko vanhempien ero yhteydessä 4-vuotiaan lapsen käytösongelmiin vanhempien ja terveydenhoitajan arvioimana. Aineistona on käytetty Terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin laitoksen FinLapset-kyselytutkimuksen aineistoa, jonka tiedonkeruu on toteutettu vuonna 2018 lastenneuvolan laajan terveystarkastuksen yhteydessä. Vanhempien vastauksista on MASKS-mittarin pohjalta muodostettu kolme lapsen käyttäytymistä kuvaavaa ulottuvuutta. Terveydenhoitajien vastaukset perustuvat heidän tekemiinsä arvioihin siitä, tarvitseeko perhe tukea lapsen ulospäin suuntautuvien psyykkisten oireiden vuoksi. Analyyseissä on myös vakioitu useita lapseen ja vanhempaan liittyviä tekijäitä sekä selvitetty interaktiotarkastelun avulla, onko käytösongelmien ja vanhempien eron kokemisen välinen yhteys erilainen tyttö- ja poikalapsilla. Analyysimenetelminä on käytetty ristiintaulukointia ja logistista regressioanalyysiä. Tulosten perusteella vanhempien eron kokeminen on yhteydessä lapsen käytösongelmiin sekä vanhempien että terveydenhoitajan arvioimana. Vanhempien arvioiden kohdalla yhteys selittyi osittain taloudellisen tilanteen vakioimisella, mutta terveydenhoitajien arvioiden kohdalla ei. Vanhempien eron kokeminen viimeisen vuoden aikana oli voimakkaammin yhteydessä käytösongelmiin vanhempien arvioiden kohdalla, kun taas terveydenhoitajan arvioiden tapauksessa eron kokemisen ajankohdalla ei ollut merkitystä. Muista huomioiduista taustamuuttujista erityisesti lapsen sukupuoli ja vanhemman arvio perheet taloudellisesta toimeentulosta sekä terveydenhoitajien arvioiden kohdalla myös vanhemman koulutus olivat yhteydessä lapsen käytösongelmiin. Yhteys ei ollut erilainen tyttö- ja poikalapsilla. Tulosten perusteella vanhempien ero on siis yhteydessä lapsen käytösongelmiin myös Suomessa: näin oli erityisesti tuoreen eron kokeneiden vanhempien sekä terveydenhoitajien arvioiden tapauksessa. Perherakenteen merkitys lapsen hyvinvoinnille on siis tärkeää tunnistaa myös lastenneuvolapalveluissa, sillä se voi auttaa havaitsemaan lapsen kehittyvät käytösongelmat riittävän ajoissa ja ohjaamaan perheitä tarvittaessa jatkotutkimuksiin.

Tiivistelmä – Abstrakt – Abstract Aims. Narrative skills are an essential part of interaction since early childhood. Narratives consist of different kinds of linguistic structures which are used to create the semantic content of a narrative. With the help of linguistic structures, it is also possible to convey information which cannot be expressed by describing only plotline/storyline. It is noted that linguistic structures and errors in them are the most effective part of narratives in distinguishing children with language impairment from children with typical development. This study examined linguistic structure, connectives and both number and quality of linguistic errors in the narratives of typically developing Finnish children and children with language impairment before school age. Methods. 10 five-year-old children participated in this study. Five of them were typically developing children and five had language impairment. The linguistic structure of the narratives was assessed with a set of toys, a picture book about a boy, a dog and a frog, and a Bus Story sequence of pictures. In the set of toys children had only toys with the same theme to elicit their narratives. In the picture book condition children had 24 temporally and logically ordered pictures and in the Bus Story; both picture sequence and an auditive model of the story to support narration. Narratives were analyzed with qualitative methods taking advantage of numbers, means and standard deviations. Results and conclusions. The results indicated that children with language impairment used simpler linguistic structure and they had more errors in their narratives than typically developing children. There were both fewer elliptical constructions and subordinate clauses in the narratives of children with language impairment than narratives of typically developing children. Children with language impairment also used simpler and more inaccurate connectives in their narratives. Children with language impairment made more of all kinds of errors but particularly errors which affected the sentence structure, distinguished research groups from each other. Elicitation method influenced most to the narratives of children with language impairment although there was variation in the narratives of typically developing children too, especially in complex language structures, but in much smaller effect. Children with language impairment used the weakest linguistic structure in narratives based on the set of toys. When there was more support to create narratives, children with language impairment were able to use more complex language. However, children with language impairment also made more errors in the most supported Bus Story narratives. Differing from children with language impairment, typically developing children used the most complex language in narratives based on the toys and the simplest language in the Bus Story. Elicitation method had only subtle effect on errors made by typically developing children.