Health leaders from various disciplines are considering a range of approaches to achieve reductions in sugar content of food and drinks including a human rights approach, regulatory steps, voluntary reformulation of products and smarter communication.
At a recent summit on sugar and oral health held by the BDA on 13 November 2018 in London, delegates discussed what needed to be done to tackle the growing problem of ill health and poor oral health due to sugar in the nation’s diet.
The summit, initiated by BDA president Susie
Sanderson, was attended by around 50 delegates including representatives of
diverse health professional bodies, health charities, international
organisations, central government agencies and local government, who considered
various steps including an approach that could mean the sale of overly-sugared
products to children would be considered as a breach of human rights.
During the all-day event including question/answer
(Q&A) sessions and round-table discussions, delegates recognised the
introduction of the UK soft drinks industry levy in April 2018 and other steps
towards curbing the oral and general health impacts of sugar, but discussed how
to tackle the challenges that remained and further measures required to address
them.
The BDA’s Health and Science Chair, Russ Ladwa
said: ‘Dentists see the damage Britain’s sugar addiction does every day. We’ve
won the argument for a sugar tax, but that must not mark the end of tough
action on a common agent fuelling epidemics of tooth decay and obesity.
‘We’ve set out to bring together leading voices
from across healthcare, academia and advocacy, with heavyweight UK and
international experience. Our objective is to look at the latest evidence and
innovative policies that can open up the next front on the war on sugar.’
Dr Arianne Matlin, Head of Health and Science
Policy at the BDA, said: ‘We had a good series of discussions and we are going
to produce a consensus report which will both outline what happened on the day,
but also start to draw out some policy implications and areas for future work
for us and partners due out maybe next spring.’We will be considering a human
rights-based approach to sugar and the right of children to have their health
protected by the state which can be paramount in considerations even when
balanced against things like commercial trade interest and freedom of
expression in the form of advertising.
‘One of our speakers was a professor of law and
public health who introduced that angle. We also had a discussion on general
health inequalities and where sugar and oral health fit into the global agenda
on non-communicable diseases.’The BDA has developed mutually-supportive partnerships
with key players outside the direct sphere of oral health including obesity,
cancer and other health organisations, and said it aimed to work towards an
inter-disciplinary consensus on key messages for the public, media and
policymakers.
The various organisations present at the summit
included the British Medical Association (BMA), Children’s Food Campaign,
Action on Sugar, World Health Organisation, Cancer Research UK, Public Health
England, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Liverpool University,
British Dietetic Association, Society of British Dental Nurses, and the British
Society of Paediatric Dentistry.
During the summit, national and international case
studies were presented from other fields where there have been initiatives such
as tobacco control and reducing salt content in foods.
‘Salt and tobacco have had very different
approaches,’ said Matlin. ‘For tobacco, it’s been a much heavier-handed,
regulatory type approach whereas salt was tackled under the radar. There’s been
a huge reduction in salt content of processed food over the last few years, but
most people aren’t even aware that it has happened. It’s almost been a stealth
approach to alter peoples’ taste preferences. I think sugar is somewhere in the
middle of those two approaches and there are lessons we can draw on from both
of those examples.’
Another focus in the report expected next spring is
likely to be around communication and how to communicate effectively with
patients and the public, using partnership working with other professions
outside dentistry in relation to children’s oral health.’We want to get an
inter-disciplinary consensus around communication and part of that will be
looking at the messages where oral health doesn’t necessarily align completely
with general health messages,’ explained Matlin.
‘There are some messages that are specific to oral
health around how frequently and when you consume sugar and alternative diet
drinks, so we will try to resolve some of those conflicts between our messages
and other peoples’ messages without overloading the public and reaching public
health saturation.’The expert report is due in the spring.