Think about it, do you know anyone who seems to have a sweet tooth?
If you didn’t know, you have a sweet tooth if you really like eating sweet foods like candies or chocolates.
It’s really common for parents to pamper their children with lots of sweets or chocolates.
While these sweet foods may make your children feel really good, when they take them very often, they actually harm their teeth.
Anyone can have a sweet tooth, whatever the case, the story is the same.
DEaling with a sweet tooth
Here’s Alero’s story…
Mrs Johnson stared in shock at her daughter’s milk teeth, the dentist had just showed her holes in her daughter’s teeth.
Feeling guilty, Mrs Johnson started to complain to the dentist about Alero’s sweet tooth, she had no clue on how to change her daughter’s diet. Alero Johnson, 6 year old, hardly went a day without eating chocolates, cookies, icecream or sweets.
In making snacking choices for the children, every parent faces the dilemma; a healthy diet versus a sweet diet.
It is more difficult when the child starts to cry or ask for sweets or chocolates.
Candies are surely sweet but they may not be best friends to your child’s teeth. Bacteria stick to the refined sugars and produce acids that decay the teeth over time.
How then do you get out of the sticky situation?
Below, you will find tips every parent can use.
TIPS FOR A HEALTHY DIET FOR YOUR CHILD
You are your child’s first model, they will eat only what you give them and what they see you eat. Show your children how to eat healthy, by example.
This should start during pregnancy and after the child is born.
A mother’s diet could also affect a child’s development, for example, Folic acid deficiency in a pregnant woman could lead to developmental abnormalities in the unborn child
Your children will continue to eat only what is introduced to them. Keep your family diet low on refined sugars, chocolates, sweet drinks or other sweet foods.
Instead fill your home with healthier choices like natural fruit juices, fruit and vegetable smoothies, whole fruits, nuts and so on.
Do not breastfeed just to pacify a child. Instead, find out and address the cause of your child’s discomfort. Breastfeed a child only when you are sure he or she is hungry.
Do not breastfeed overnight. Do not use feeding bottles as pacifiers or leave them in the child’s mouth for too long.
Avoid giving snacks such as biscuits, chocolates between meals. If your children, have to snack on them, let them do so at mealtimes. The saliva produced by the mouth at mealtimes helps to cleanse the mouth
If you have to pack school lunch boxes for your children, avoid sweet foods.
Instead pack their boxes with fruits, cooked food, snacks like vegetables sandwiches and water.
See your dentist if you have a challenge
Your dentist is really your friend and he knows how to deal with sticky sweet tooth situations
It is advised that you see your dentist every six months even if you have no complaint or discomfort
