The results of the seventh National Dental Epidemiology Programme (NDEP) oral health survey of 5 year-old schoolchildren in England in 2024 were published last month. The data was collected during the 2023 to 2024 school year. This survey takes place every 2 years to collect oral health information of 5-year-olds who attend mainstream, state-funded schools across England.

For the second time in this series of surveys on 5-year-olds, the prevalence of children with enamel decay is presented. Understanding the prevalence of enamel decay is useful as it tells us about the proportion of children with early-stage decay who would ordinarily be counted as being free of obvious decay. This is presented at national and regional levels.

The table below summarises the prevalence of combined enamel and/or dentinal decay experience between 2022 and 2024:

Nationally, 22.4% of 5-year-old children had experience of dentinal decay. Of those with experience of dentinal decay, the mean (average) number of teeth affected was 3.5 teeth. Children living in the most deprived areas of the country were more than twice as likely to have experienced dentinal decay (32.2%) as those living in the least deprived areas (13.6%).

The table below summarises the prevalence of experience of dentinal decay between 2019 and 2024:

For further information on the NDEP and to view the data tables, click here

Poor oral health impacts both children and their families. It causes pain, discomfort and infection for the child and impacts their ability to eat, smile and socialise. Children need time off school and parents and carers need to take time off work to take their children to dental appointments. Dental decay is related to frequent consumption of sugary foods and drinks and therefore is largely a preventable disease.

Startwell have our very own oral health character Smiley Shen who teaches children and families how to keep their teeth healthy!

We want you to promote oral health all year, however it can be useful to link to national campaigns such as National Smile Month which takes place from 12^th May to 12^th June and promote this in your setting.  For further information have a look at our National Smile Month newsletter article. For ideas on how to promote oral health messages in your setting and how to link our Startwell character Smiley Shen visit our website’s activities ideas pages.

If you would like to access free oral health training for early years practitioners you can book via the training dates page on our website.

Weaning, also known as complementary feeding, is the gradual introduction of solid foods alongside a baby’s usual breast milk or first infant formula milk.  It should begin around 6 months of age as milk alone can no longer provide all the energy and nutrients required to support optimal growth.

The current advice to wean around 6 months of age came into effect in 2003 when the UK government adopted the World Health Organisation’s global policy recommending exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months.  Waiting until 6 months allows the baby to develop properly to be able to cope with solid foods.  Despite NHS official advice recommending introducing solid foods at around 6 months of age, alongside breast milk or first infant formula, research led by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) found 40% of first-time mums introduced solid food before their babies were 5 months old and almost two-thirds (64%) reported they had received conflicting advice on what age to start weaning.  This is not surprising as EU regulations which informed UK laws prior to the UK’s departure from the EU, allow infant food to be marketed from 4 months of age, which can make the timing of the introduction of solid foods confusing and misleading for parents.

• Public Health England reported that more than a third of baby foods and 24% of baby drinks are marketed for children under 6 months (Public Health England, 2019).
• In another report on baby food marketed to infants in the first year of life, 45% of foods from the four main manufacturers were marketed for infants from 4 months of age (Crawley and Westland, 2017).
• A further study of fruit and vegetable purées in pouches marketed for infants and young children reported that 58% of these products are labelled as suitable for infants less than 6 months of age (Westland and Crawley, 2018).

This goes directly against the official NHS advice.  Furthermore, over a third (35%) of baby food products on the market are packaged in pouches (Public Health England, 2019) and there is concern that the common practice of allowing the child to suck from a pouch (i.e. not using a spoon to feed the product to a baby) might encourage continual feeding (Koletzko et al, 2019).  This can also have a detrimental effect on the child’s teeth.

To combat incorrect advice, the Better Health Start 4 Life weaning hub has been created to provide up to date, reliable and evidence-based information for parents and practitioners to support them in every aspect of the weaning process.  The information is easy to follow with supporting videos from parents and professionals and offers over 120 easy to follow recipes and meal ideas.  In addition, there is an option to sign up for weekly personalised emails. You can also find advice on weaning on our Startwell website here.

To help support parents to make informed, safe weaning decisions please share these websites with your families and explain baby food being marketed from 4 months is not a reason to start weaning early (under 6 months of age). Weaning should begin when the baby is showing all the signs they are ready for food (which will be around 6 months) and in discussions with your Health Visitor.

For practitioners who work in the baby room or those with a special interest in safe weaning practices, Startwell deliver weaning training each term.  For more information and to book a space click here.