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Healthy drinks should be default options on kids’ menus, foundation claims

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Healthy drinks should be default options on kids’ menus, foundation claims

BY  ON 2 OCTOBER 2018

healthy drinksThe Oral Health Foundation is calling on restaurants to offer healthy drinks as the default option on children’s menus.

California recently passed a law meaning milk and water will be the default drink sold with kids’ meals in restaurants.

The foundation believes a similar initiative rolled out in the UK could help fight the effects of sugary drinks on children’s oral health.

‘We know that some children are consuming several sugary and fizzy drinks every day,’ Dr Nigel Carter OBE, chief executive of the Oral Health Foundation, says.

‘This is not only contributing to oral diseases, but is at the forefront of general health issues like obesity and diabetes.

‘Around one in four (24.7%) five-year-olds in the UK have tooth decay.

‘The amount of sugar young children are consuming, along with how often, is the root cause of the problem.

‘Any initiative to make water and milk default options for children’s meals must be driven by the restaurant industry.

‘If they fail to show a commitment, then we would be pushing for its introduction by a change in the law.’

Sugar-filled cereals

Research also shows that kid’s cereals could provide at least 50% of a child’s daily sugar allowance in one 30g bowl.

Figures from Sinks-taps.com found none of the cereals tested were below 25% of a child’s recommended daily allowance (RDA).

Of the cereals tested, Frosties came out top of the sugar pile, containing 71% of a child’s RDA per bowl.

‘This investigation into the sugar in children’s cereals has been truly worrying,’ Richard Broadbent, managing director of Sinks-taps.com, said.

‘We hope this information will help parents make more informed decisions on breakfast foods for their kids.

‘It is especially concerning how, even with the recommended serving size, there is a large percentage of a child’s daily allowance of sugar used up before school.’

Article credit: https://www.dentistry.co.uk/2018/10/02/healthy-drinks-default-options-kids-menus-foundation-claims/

Image credit: https://www.thefoodrush.com/articles/health-hydration-and-happiness-can-kids-drinks-have-it-all/

Children’s Tooth Extractions On The Increase

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Dentists have accused the government of having a “short-sighted” approach to tooth decay in England after hospital operations to remove children’s teeth increased to nearly 43,000.

There were 42,911 operations in 2016-17 – up from 40,800 the previous year and 36,833 in 2012-13, NHS figures show.

The British Dental Association said England had a “second-class” dental service compared to Wales and Scotland.

The government said it was “determined” to reduce the number of extractions.

Doctors said many of the tooth extractions would be caused by the food and drink children consume and were therefore “completely preventable”.

Dental surgeon Claire Stevens, who works in a hospital in north-west England, said most of her patients were aged five to nine, but it was not uncommon to remove all 20 baby teeth from a two-year-old because of decay.

She said she has also extracted a 14-year-old’s permanent teeth due to fizzy drinks. They then needed false teeth.

‘Startling’ figures

An analysis of NHS figures by the Local Government Association, which represents councils in England and Wales, found the equivalent of 170 hospital tooth extractions a day were being carried out on under-18s.

These are done in hospital under general anaesthetic, rather than at a dental practice.

Data pic

The operations would have cost the NHS about £36m last year and £165m since 2012, the LGA found.

Mick Armstrong, chairman of the BDA, said: “These statistics are a badge of dishonour for health ministers, who have failed to confront a wholly preventable disease.

“Tooth decay is the number one reason for child hospital admissions, but communities across England have been left hamstrung without resources or leadership.”

 
Media captionDental surgeon Claire Stevens says it’s not uncommon to remove all 20 baby teeth in a two-year-old

The BDA said England was receiving a “second-class service” because, unlike Wales and Scotland, it has no dedicated national child oral health programme.

It said the government’s centrepiece policy Starting Well – aimed at improving oral health outcomes for “high-risk” children – had received no new funding and was operating in parts of just 13 local authorities in England.

“The BDA has insisted that national authorities must provide resources to enable all children in England to benefit,” it said.

‘Cutting back’

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said the figures were “startling” and “should act as a wake-up call to policy makers and act as the catalyst for change”.

The LGA said the data demonstrated the “urgent need to introduce measures to curb our sugar addiction which is causing children’s teeth to rot”.

The Royal College of Surgeons said the statistics were “alarming” and called for supervised tooth brushing sessions in all nursery schools across England.

 
Media captionPeople use circular motion, horizontal, rolling or vibratory techniques to clean their teeth, but which is the right way?

A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said it was “determined to reduce the number of children having teeth extracted because of tooth decay” and pointed to its sugar tax, which comes into effect in April on soft drinks with the most added sugar.

“Our world-class NHS dentists are also playing a vital role to improve dental hygiene – in the last year 6.8 million children were seen by a dentist, representing 58.5% of the child population,” she said.

The spokesman added that the Starting Well programme was introduced last year to improve the oral health of children most at risk in 13 high priority areas and NHS England was planning to expand the programme to other areas.

Dr Sandra White, director of dental public health at Public Health England, said parents could reduce tooth decay through cutting back on their children’s sugary food and drink and encouraging them to brush their teeth with fluoride toothpaste twice a day, as well as regular trips to the dentist.

Government initiatives in Scotland and Wales are said to be behind their falling rates of tooth decay in young children.

In Scotland, the Childsmile programme is claimed to have cut £5m off treatment costs and the Designed to Smile programme in Wales has helped reduce decay among five-year-olds in deprived areas.

A debate on children’s dental examinations and treatment is due to take place in the House of Lords on 18 January.

Text credit: BBC  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42662425

Image Credit: Dentistry http://www.dentistry.co.uk/2016/02/29/rising-number-of-childrens-teeth-extractions-in-england/