A leading county councillor has suggested that sweet packets should include images of decayed teeth in a bid to improve oral health.
At a meeting of the county council’s public health and community safety cabinet panel on Wednesday (June 4), councillors heard that 17 per cent of the county’s five-year-olds have visible tooth decay.
They also heard that from 2021/22 to 2023/24, there were 280 hospital admissions of children aged five or under for the treatment of tooth decay.
Among the ongoing activities to improve children’s oral health, public health officials highlighted the distribution of oral health packs to under-fives in areas with the poorest oral health, as well as the use of pop-up dental clinics.
The report also referenced a targeted primary school oral health screening project, along with training for several schools to provide a supervised tooth brushing programme.
In response to the “shocking” report, executive member for public health and community safety, Cllr Anjanta Hilton (Liberal Democrat), alluded to the link between tooth decay and diet. She suggested that images of decaying teeth printed on confectionery packets could deter children from eating too many sweets.
“I sometimes wish we could do the same thing that we’ve done with cigarettes and put decaying teeth on massive sweet packets and popcorn – but that’s more of a lobbying issue I think,” she said.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service after the meeting, Cllr Hilton pointed to the impact of images on cigarette packets showing the effect of smoking on the lungs, and asked why a similar approach could not be used to show the impact of sugary sweets on teeth.
“It’s really shocking that even before their adult teeth have come through they are losing teeth because of decay,” she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
“There is clearly a link to foods, to sugary foods. And I think we should be active in showing the outcome if you eat sugar in quantities.
“[…] We need to intervene in this, like we have done with smoking and with seatbelts.”
Cllr Hilton also pointed to the accessibility of sweets and the lower cost of purchasing oversized bags or multi-packs, even if parents would prefer their children to have a smaller portion.
After highlighting the need to prevent bad food habits from forming at a young age, she added:
“I would like not to have as much government intervention. But it’s got to a level where other campaigns aren’t working.”
During the meeting, in response to a question, associate director of public health Aideen Dunne acknowledged there had been a “downward trend” in the prevalence of tooth decay in five-year-olds.
She said that since 2007, there had been a decrease from 19.2 per cent to 16.8 per cent in the number of five-year-olds with visible dental caries.
She also highlighted the cost of living crisis, the obesity epidemic, and the affordability of healthy food as factors that would “push against” public health activities.
The report noted links between poor oral health and child obesity, suggesting that many of the risk factors are the same.
Following the debate, members of the cabinet panel agreed to “champion child obesity and child oral health as important local health priorities.”
Deborah is a Local Democracy Reporter covering news across Hertfordshire, with a strong focus on councils, local government and public policy. Her reporting includes county council decisions, council tax, spending pressures, legal and regulatory issues, healthcare stories including junior doctors, and community projects affecting local residents.
