Cut sugar intake to save kids' teeth

Sadly, a report from the Ministry of Health gives children in the UAE little reason to smile.

The majority of children here suffer from poor oral hygiene and will have long-term problems with their teeth.

The problem essentially rests with the amount of sugar contained in our daily diets: Young teeth simply cannot cope with large amounts of sugar, no matter how pleasant the taste.

Dentists are recommending no more than three doses of sugar a day. And they say that cleaning your tongue is as important as brushing your teeth.

When one considers that there is an alarmingly high rate of childhood obesity, a condition that basically assures the onset of diabetes, any reason to reduce the intake of sugars is to be welcomed. Now with word that the smiles of our children are being ruined, there's an extra impetus to reduce sugar immediately.

That would give us all reason to be happy.