The introduction of sugar tax on soft drinks led to a reduction in the number of children who needed rotten teeth removing, according to a study.
The soft drinks industry levy may have prevented thousands of children needing to have their teeth pulled out, academics found.
Researchers, led by academics at the University of Cambridge, wanted to assess the impact of the levy, which was announced in March 2016 and implemented in April 2018.
The tax has led to drinks companies reformulating their drinks to contain less sugar. Failure to do so leads to firms paying a levy per litre of drink.
When the law came into force, the Treasury estimated that more than 50% of manufacturers had already reduced the sugar content of drinks as a result.
The new study, published in the journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health, saw experts analyse NHS hospital admissions in England for tooth extraction caused by tooth decay.
The team looked at data from 2012, before the tax was introduced, to February 2020.
They found a 12.1% “relative reduction” of in hospital admissions for tooth extractions among children aged up to 18.
They estimated that the reduction equates to an estimated 5,638 hospital admissions being averted each year.
The largest reduction was seen among children aged up to four years old, where academics found a 28.6% reduction.
They also found a 5.5% reduction among those aged five to nine.
But no change was seen among older children.
Co-author David Conway, professor of dental public health at the University of Glasgow, added: “Tooth extractions under general anaesthesia are among the most common reasons for children to be admitted to hospital across the UK.
“This study shows that ambitious public health policies such as a tax on sugary drinks can impact on improving child oral health.”
The British Dental Association (BDA) said the levy should be expanded into other products such as milk-based drinks, biscuits, cakes, sweets, yoghurts and cereals.
“The sugar levy is delivering the goods in the fight against decay, so it’s time to double down,” said BDA chair Eddie Crouch.
“This isn’t about adding to the cost of living.
“When voluntary action has clearly failed, this shows government must force industry’s hand on cutting sugar.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel