Sugar Tax - The Icing on the Cake for Health Secretary
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- Published: Monday, 27 November 2023 18:12
- Written by Peter Ingle
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First it was sugar awareness week. Then it was revealed that the husband of the new Minister of Health, Victoria Atkins, happens to have been the chief executive of British Sugar since October 2022.
Now a new study claims to show that the ‘sugar tax’ is having a positive effect on dental health. The tax was initially developed to address increasing levels of obesity.
A paper published in BMJ Nutrition Prevention and Health, concludes that the number of children aged 18 and under going into hospital to have teeth extracted has fallen by 12% since the sugar tax came into force in April 2018. Based upon this, an estimated 5,638 fewer children are having teeth extracted under general anaesthetic every year compared with before the soft drinks industry levy (SDIL) started. Sugar-sweetened drinks have accounted for about 30 per cent of the added sugars in diets of children aged one to three and more than half for older teens.
There are now renewed calls to extend the tax beyond drinks.
The study analysed NHS data on hospital admissions of children to have decayed teeth extracted, and was undertaken by researchers from Cambridge and Glasgow universities. The 13 million records of under 18’s that were reviewed, also revealed that the benefits were not evenly spread across all ages. The biggest falls were among children aged up to four and from five to nine, where there were declines of 6.5 and 3.3 admissions per 100,000. However no improvement was seen among 10- to 14-year-olds or 15- to 18-year-olds.
Lead author, Dr Nina Rogers, of Cambridge University’s medical research council epidemiology unit said, “This is an important finding given that children aged five to nine are the most likely to be admitted to hospital for tooth extractions under general anaesthesia.” The researchers concluded: “This study provides evidence of possible benefits to children’s health.
A cash strapped government may also be grateful for the £355m a year proceeds from the sugar tax. David Fothergill, the chair of the Local Government Association’s community wellbeing board, said the findings were positive but he urged ministers to let councils decide for themselves what public health and anti-obesity schemes the proceeds from the sugar tax should be used for.
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. BDA chair Eddie Crouch said: “The sugar levy is delivering the goods in the fight against decay, so it’s time to double down. 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.”
Not all dentists were convinced that the reduction in general anaesthetic extractions was necessarily the result of the tax, particularly given other events since 2018. Factors to consider were the reduced access to NHS primary care dentistry, especially since the pandemic, as well as the limited availability of GA sessions which has also been exacerbated by the pandemic, as well as increased waiting lists, and industrial action.
A future study that also took into account numbers of untreated decayed teeth and antibiotic prescriptions in under 18’s might shed some light on the precise reasons for the drop in extractions. Whatever the answer, it will be another challenge for the new minister and her team.
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