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25th January 2006 Nurseries join 'Stop the Rot' campaign National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) has announced that it has joined forces with the Stop The Rot campaign to ask the 13,000 nurseries in the UK to help prevent tooth decay in children. Latest studies suggest that 40 per cent of children under the age of 5 suffer from tooth decay which means means that nearly half of all babies born today will experience the pain of toothache before reaching primary school. The problem of tooth decay has increased over recent years as children are eating more sugary sweets, foods and fizzy drinks and many are also not brushing their teeth and the additional visits to the dentists to try and fix the tooth decay are costing the NHS millions of pounds each year, as well as putting a strain on the stretched dental sector. The NDNA is a national charity representing children’s day nurseries across the UK, giving them information, training and support, so they can provide the best possible care to young children. They have joined forces with Lancashire dentist, Graham Wilding BDS, to launch a campaign to get the 13,000 nurseries in the UK to help prevent tooth decay. Supported by Professor Robert Winston, Imperial College London and Professor Nancy Rothwell, University of Manchester the Stp the Rot campaign wants to promote the message 'Tooth decay in young children can be prevented'. Graham Wilding BDS said, “There are well over half a million children attending nurseries in the UK and we are therefore starting our campaign by asking nurseries to make a pledge to help children improve their oral care. "Children spend a lot of time at the nursery and it makes sense to educate them about the importance of brushing their teeth and eating more healthily during that time. "Our hope is that when they go home they will then be able to continue the good habits that they have learnt in nursery and that parents will also support the smile promises.” The campaign is asking nurseries to sign up to three smile promises:
Purnima Tanuku, Chief Executive of NDNA adds, “Nurseries strive to provide the best possible care and education for children and we believe that they will be very keen to help their children and parents to prevent tooth decay. "The majority of nurseries already provide carefully balanced diets for the children in their care, but I think we can all learn some lessons from the advice on the Stop The Rot website.” Nursery practitioners can find out how to become a tooth friendly nursery by visiting Stop the Rot Where to next?
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