Doctors call for sweet warnings to tackle decay

Doctors have backed calls for sweet packets to come with traffic light-style warnings in an effort to combat health problems in children.

Members of the British Medical Association (BMA) at their annual conference in Bournemouth voted in favour of the new measures amid concerns about poor dental health among young people.

They also agreed to call on the government to introduce compulsory dental hygiene lessons in primary schools, while free toothbrushes should also be given to children aged five and under, doctors said.

Dr Iain Kennedy, BMA public health committee chairman, said: “It is shocking that so many children this young need to have teeth removed, often in hospital under general anaesthetic which carries significant risk.”

Data obtained by the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) showed tooth extractions from children aged nine and under have reached more than 34,000 per year.

There were 34,788 extractions in 2014-15 and 34,003 in 2015-16, higher than in any single year between 2005 and 2014.

In 2015-16, there were 47 extractions in children under the age of one.