This next story is sad and actually totally avoidable, and I believe has a lot to do with a lack of education rather than anything deliberate on the part of the parents.
The issue we are going to focus on is tooth decay, particularly in young children. Apparently the state of our nation’s dental health, particularly in certain regions in the country has never been worse. Due in no small part to the excessive sugar intake that our young children are consuming, their teeth amongst other things are suffering badly.
According to the CDC 42% of children aged between 2 and 11 have cavities in their baby teeth, and 21 percent aged between 6 and 11, have them in their permanent teeth.
The situation is becoming so bad, that dentists are having to use general anesthesia to work on the children’s teeth, as otherwise the pain would be too intense.In March 2016 a young boy from New Zealand had to have 11 teeth extracted purely as a result of his high sugary diet.In Appalachia which is the area between New York and Alabama, things are so bad, due to kids drinking excessive amounts of Mountain Dew, that the phenomenon is now referred to as “Mountain Dew Mouth.”
It is not however as simple as it sounds, as the video below, highlights some of the dangers for parents who follow a sugar-free alternative diet. Parenting is never easy and always filled with difficult choices.One of the difficult issues though is keeping your children away from sugary drinks, as they are everywhere. At school, at after school clubs, kids parties, the list is endless.
As you might expect, the best recommendation of doctors is regularly supervised brushing and flossing of teeth by your children and to try your very best to limit their sugar intake.