Hi, everyone – I hope that you are all well.
With only two weeks until Easter, I think it’s fair to say that most people are ready for a break. If you are somebody like me who works in an NHS practice, you know how crazy it can be at this time of year.You are busy making sure that UDA targets have been met, and everybody around you seems very stressed. Despite this, we have to keep in mind what Easter means to our patients.
The Easter break has a different purpose for each family. For some, it’s a religious time of year. For others, it’s a nice break from work when they get to spend time with friends and family. For most children, it’s all about the Easter eggs.
Did you know that the average child receives £56-worth of Easter eggs – roughly about eight Easter eggs each? Most children consume these within the four days over Easter or during their school holidays, consuming a whopping 8000 extra calories on top of their normal daily meals. No wonder they don’t feel too well after eating them!
It’s a really hard topic to bring up with families because there is a lot of pressure on parents to make their child’s Easter special. Parents try to make sure that their children get the right Easter eggs, and children compare with their friends how many and which makes of Easter eggs they received.
If you are discussing this with families in your practice (or even in your personal life), you could suggest that instead of getting children something that they are going to eat in about ten minutes, they could buy something for children that they can keep – like some clothes, a toy, a book, or a family day out. The activities don’t have to be expensive – just have a look at what activities your local park or parent groups are running during the holidays or at the weekends.
I must admit that I’ve been guilty in the past of buying Easter eggs for children that I know, but I’ve always stressed the point about eating them within a meal time. Since becoming an oral health educator, I have started trying to find something more personal for each child or adult that I buy for.
As a dental professional, it’s important to stress the point that chocolate and sweets that have been bought for Easter or during any another time of the year need to be eaten as part of a meal and not as a snack. It’s probably harder to introduce this practice at this time of year, as the children are on school holidays and are more likely to be grazing throughout the day.
Promote to parents that being organised is key. Suggest that they prepare things like carrot sticks and other vegetables or cheese and crackers as healthy alternatives throughout the day, as children are always hungry. Also, they should offer milk and water as drinks, and save the sugary snacks for meal times only.
I know Easter is only once a year, but it’s good to make families aware of good eating habits – then they can implement these throughout the year. Hopefully, over time, we can reduce the amount of tooth decay in children.
Thanks for reading, and bye for now.
Emma