BDA launches online petition on sugar
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- Published: Thursday, 16 July 2015 23:49
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The British Dental Association (BDA) has called on government to take heed of the latest expert advice to slash the recommended daily intake of sugar. The BDA is now launching an online petition to David Cameron, inviting both health professionals and patients to lend support to this advice. BDA Chairman, Mick Armstrong, said: “We have an historic opportunity here to end Britain's addiction to sugar.”
New research from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN), published later today, is widely expected to advise government to radically cut the recommended intake of 'free sugars' - the effectively nutrient-free refined sugar added to products such as sweetened drinks.
Tooth decay is the number one cause of hospital admissions among children. 46,500 young people under 19 were admitted to have teeth removed under general anaesthetic in a single year, with hospitals forced to run extra operations in the evenings and at weekends to deal with demand.
The BDA is now launching an online petition to David Cameron, inviting both health professionals and patients to lend support to the SACN's proposals. In May the Prime Minister gave a landmark speech in health, in which he called for a ‘completely new approach to public health and preventable disease’.
Mick Armstrong, Chair of the British Dental Association, said: “We have an historic opportunity here to end Britain's addiction to sugar. The government now has the evidence and a clear duty to send the strongest possible signal to the food industry, that while added sugar might be helping their sales, it is hurting their customers. Tooth decay remains the number one reason for hospital admissions among young children. By halving recommended sugar intake we could start bringing down the multi-million pound bill we all pay for expanding waistlines and sick mouths. If David Cameron wants to give some meaning to his pledges on prevention he can start today, by finally acknowledging the huge burden sugar is placing on the NHS.”
The BDA has long championed action on sugar, both to discourage consumption and encourage reformulation of sweetened food and drinks, and welcomed support this week from the British Medical Association (BMA) for a sugar levy.
Image credit - Moyan Brenn under CC licence - not modified.
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