Many dentists offer incentives for children to get rid of their candy.
In today’s world it’s really hard to raise children with healthy teeth. Halloween, Christmas, Easter, and birthday parties can be times for a lot of the white stuff called sugar that can really destroy the health of your child’s teeth. But, it doesn’t end there, many teachers at school are giving sugary treats that are used as incentives for good behavior and work. Even the school lunch can have a daily goody.
And, it’s not just the sugar that is harming children’s teeth. It’s also all the bread, pasta, and cereal items that are made with white flour and highly processed. Kids don’t stand a chance to have a healthy body or healthy teeth. There are the buns that go with the burgers, the white-flour ramen, spaghetti, and pasta noodles.
The more processed and refined foods become, the greater the chance for cavities. Dr. Weston A. Price was a dentist and researcher in the early 1930′s. He was concerned to find the cause of cavities and determined to travel the world. He visited many peoples over the whole world including little known villages and unindustrialized places.
He noticed that in the places where people did not have access to white flour and white sugar, the children and adults had amazingly strong, white, and straight teeth. These people ate agricultural plant foods they’d grown themselves along with occasional raw milk or flesh of animals they’d killed and prepared.
The places where modern refined foods had been introduced, the rising generation developed crooked and cavity-prone teeth. They no longer had the wonderful health they’d once enjoyed. In an effort to help these backward people become civilized, they were introduced to the civilized foods of white flour and white sugar, which proved their downfall.
Dr. Price wrote a book called Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, which includes all of his research and findings. The conclusive evidence in his book includes information about the importance of eating wholesome, natural foods. In this way, children can grow up with nice, beautiful, white, and straight teeth.
So, when you parents are getting ready to send your children off to school, try to give them a bowl of cracked wheat cereal with some raisins and cinnamon instead of the popular sugary cereals stripped of fiber and natural vitamins. Give them natural foods for lunch like a bowl of boiled beans and spices, some celery and carrot sticks, a fresh fruit, and a sandwich made with 100% whole grains.
If you start them at a a young age with better nutrition, you can save a lot of money when you visit the dentist. You can avoid having them wear uncomfortable braces. Not only will their teeth look beautiful and white, but their health will also improve.
Parents also need to set a good example of proper eating and exercise for good health and teeth. Children will tend to follow positive role models, who guide them in the right ways.
Janet Hailstone is a nutrition and cooking teacher for the community education program at Dixie State College in Southern Utah. She has a health blog at http://www.smile4you.com/blog.
