Food and Health Guidelines - Torfaen Family Information Service

1. Introduction and background
It is important to care for children’s teeth
from the start. Both tooth decay and tooth
erosion are more common in young people.
The main oral disease in children is dental
disease (tooth decay) which is influenced
by diet, oral hygiene and dental services
available to children. Dental decay has been
increasing over time and in 1999/2000,
the average decayed, missing and filled teeth
(dmft) for 5 year olds in Wales was 2.18
compared with 2.38 in 2005/06. Wales is
now ranked third when average dmft is
compared across the constituent countries of
Great Britain.
Across Wales there are significant inequalities
in oral health. For example, the average dmft
for five year olds for Local Health Boards
in 2005/06 ranged from 1.62 in Conwy to
3.96 in Blaenau Gwent.
A family’s lack of access to, or ability to
afford, good quality food (food poverty) is
a crucial factor in the relationship between
childhood deprivation and long term ill
health. It is recommended that individuals
eat 400g, roughly 5 portions of fruit and
vegetables daily. In Wales only 46% of
adults eat five or more portions of fruit and
vegetables.
However, the challenge is much greater than
defying statistics or reversing trends. Attitudes
towards food choice start to develop during
childhood and play an important role in the
development of eating habits and hence
health of the adult and future generations.
The attitudes of carers are therefore of
primary importance with this young agegroup.
10 There is evidence that children as
young as 3 are receptive and capable of
learning about nutrition and its relationship
to health 11 and that newly tasted foods are
more likely to be accepted between 2-3 years
and 4 years, than between 4 and 8 years.
This makes the Early Years environment an
ideal setting in which to influence a child’s
diet. Giving positive messages about food in
the Early Years setting will also help to stress
the importance of a healthy diet to children’s
families and possibly influence what is eaten
in the home.
The National Diet and Nutrition survey,
2000, found that there is also concern about
the intake of other nutrients among children
and young people. The intakes of saturated
fat and sugars are higher than recommended
and intakes of zinc, potassium, magnesium,
calcium and iron are lower. 9
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