Charity Dental Programme to Launch in Leeds Following Controversial TV Documentary
A highly respected dental programme run by a national charity is set to launch in Leeds following the broadcast of an eye-opening Channel 4 documentary, it has been confirmed. The charity, Action for Sick Children, has confirmed that its renowned programme, the Dental Playbox Project, will be expanded to cover Leeds. The move comes after a donation of £30,000 was made by Simply Health.
The Channel 4 show, ‘Junk Food Kids- Who’s To Blame?’ featured health professionals from Leeds Dental Institute who were discussing poor standards of oral health among children in the area. Decay is an increasingly worrying issue among young children and the paediatric dentists reported that they were seeing children as young as 2 and 3 years old who needed multiple tooth extractions.
In response to the show, Action for Sick Children has revealed plans to launch the Dental Playbox project in Leeds following great success in the North West. Val Jackson, chief executive, said that it is early days, but there are plans to roll out the scheme in other areas, including Leeds, thanks to a grant from Simply Health. Ms Jackson said that it was beneficial for documentaries like Junk Food Kids to highlight pressing issues and underline the importance of education, good oral hygiene and healthy eating choices.
Action for Sick Children hopes that the programme will help to tackle high rates of decay and subsequently reduce NHS spending, making more funds available for treatment for non-preventable illnesses.
Join this Discussion