Canadian rocker Alanis Morrisette enjoyed worldwide success with her 90s hit Ironic. Throughout the song she referenced several incidents that could be labelled ironic. For example, my favourite lyric is: “It’s like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife, it’s meeting the man of my dreams, and then meeting his beautiful wife”.
Isn’t it ironic, don’t you think?!
However, if Miss Morrisette was to create an updated version for this current generation, she would surely reference the following point. Millions of parents in the UK endure punishing diet and fitness regimes to get beach body ready, yet these same adults are also prepared to let their children eat more than FIVE times as much sugar during the summer holidays.
Now that is ironic!
Some parents are willing to do whatever it takes in the vain hope of looking good, yet they overlook their child’s teeth when all they need is a few minutes each day. What’s that all about?!
Tooth Decay Is Not Fun For Children
As a youngster, the summer holidays are the greatest time of the year. No school, no homework, you can go to the park and have fun in the sun with your friends, you can enjoy day trips to the park and seaside, stay up later than normal and have the best time ever.
Unfortunately, as a parent, trying to keep your offspring entertained for six weeks can be a challenge, so we can understand why using sugary treats as a means of rewarding good behaviour and keeping them occupied seems like a good solution. But ultimately it is not as tooth decay in children is reaching epidemic proportions.
An increase in sugar is not only bad for your weight, it is terrible news for your teeth, especially in the formative years of your children.
The combustible mix of the summer holidays and the steep increase in sugar intake is made even more explosive with the revelation that more than 40% of children failed to see a dentist last year! With tooth extractions being the most common reason for hospital admissions for children aged five to nine and 40% of adults admitting they forget to check whether their child has brushed their teeth or not, we urge you all to step up your children’s dental routine this summer.
Children receive free check-ups under the NHS, so the summer holidays are the ideal time to book in for an appointment and make sure your children’s teeth are growing as they should and decay free.
You can also get creative with your culinary treats, ensuring they enjoy plenty of fruit and vegetables in a fun way, along with their special treats.
However, being a parent is never easy. Even when you think you are doing the best by your offspring by opting for orange juice ahead of fizzy drinks and choosing products that are labelled as no added sugar, you could still be loading your kids full of sugar. Some brands of orange juice contain more sugar than cola, while certain breakfast cereals – which are thought to be healthy – are swimming in sugar, along with yoghurts, puddings, cakes and biscuits. Even BBQ sauce and ketchup contain unexpectedly large amounts of sugar.
There have been plenty of tests carried out on the erosive power of cola. One study on the internet showed a tooth turning pure black within three days of being placed in a glass of cola. So, if coke can do that, imagine the damage some of these high sugar orange juices could do!
Prevent your children from suffering tooth decay with a few of these healthy swaps.
Swap high sugar orange juice and sports drinks for ones that has no added sugar.
Replace that individually packed chocolate cake bar for a slice of malt loaf.
Change your chocolate cereal for a shredded wholegrain version.
Swap fizzy drinks and milkshakes for water and sugar-free options
At the end of the day, there’s nothing wrong with a special treat or a bit of sugar now and again. What we don’t want though is for our children to overindulge in sugar on a daily basis.
If you are looking for expert advice on how to look after your children’s teeth this summer, and for ideas on what you should and shouldn’t be feeding them, get in touch with us today. We can book your little ones in for a pain-free dental examination and pass on our vast knowledge of dietary advice.
For more details call 01782 848708 or email [email protected]
