Dental caries, obesity, and asthma during childhood : a qualitative multiple case study to determine where community-based prevention strategies intersect to guide a coordinated approach for 21st-Century families.

Dental caries, obesity, and asthma are common, chronic conditions during childhood. Each of these health conditions is widely prevalent among children in the United States. Not only are these three chronic conditions common among children, but they can be comorbidities of one another and share many of the same risk factors, particularly those risk factors influenced by the social determinants of health. Based on the experience of the researcher and confirmed by a gap in the research, there is a missed opportunity to address dental caries, obesity, and asthma collaboratively. Research shows that dental caries, obesity, and asthma episodes for children are preventable through primary prevention strategies. However, successful community health strategies for the prevention of these three health conditions occur through a more siloed approach. There is also a complexity to childhood dental caries, obesity, and asthma that generates the necessity for multi-variate primary prevention efforts. Solely providing community education strategies is not enough for the prevention of these three health conditions. A multiple case study investigation of multi-level strategies—using the Spectrum of Prevention as the theoretical framework—determines overall strategy alignment for dental caries, obesity, and asthma while helping to coordinate community health improvement efforts. The Spectrum of Prevention is a framework that identifies six levels of prevention to move beyond the perception of prevention being only educational strategies. Dental caries, obesity, and asthma episodes often co-occur among children in the United States and share many risk factors, yet these conditions are preventable. There is a need to address these conditions more collaboratively through prevention efforts. Ultimately, this multiple case study fills a gap in research regarding where community-based prevention strategies align on the Spectrum of Prevention for childhood dental caries, obesity, and asthma, to guide a more coordinated approach with future community health strategies in the prevention of these three health conditions.