Ultra-processed food blamed for alarming change in children’s faces

Research shows that children who are fed a diet of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) may develop buck teeth.

Foods rich in additives, such as chips and sweets, have been vilified for decades for their supposed risks, with dozens of studies linking them to type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

Experts have even called for UPFs – usually anything edible that contains more artificial ingredients than natural ones – to be removed from diets.

Now Spanish scientists who followed dozens of young children found that consuming a diet consisting mainly of ultra-processed foods, which are typically bland and hyper-palatable, affected jaw development.

Dr. Laura Marques Martinez, expert in pediatric dentistry at the Catholic University of Valencia and co-author of the study, said: ‘Chewing plays a crucial role in the proper development of the jaws, as it stimulates bone growth, strengthens facial muscles and promotes proper development. of the jaws. dental alignment.

‘Chewing solid and fibrous foods, such as fruits, vegetables or natural proteins, trains the jaws and helps prevent problems such as malocclusion (misalignment of the teeth) and deficiencies in the size and shape of dental arches.

‘On the other hand, diets based on ultra-processed foods, which are soft and require minimal effort to chew, negatively impact jaw development.

‘By not sufficiently stimulating the maxillofacial muscles and bones, these foods can lead to underdeveloped bone structures and increase the risk of malocclusion and respiratory problems.’

The Nova system, developed by scientists in Brazil more than a decade ago, divides food into four groups based on the amount of processing it has undergone. Unprocessed foods include fruits, vegetables, nuts, eggs and meat. Processed culinary ingredients – which are not usually eaten alone – include oils, butter, sugar and salt

Research has shown that British toddlers consume half their calories on a UPF diet. Among seven-year-olds, this figure is 59 percent.

In the study, the researchers followed the eating habits, tooth structures and skull shape of 25 three- to five-year-olds.

They found that those who ate softer foods were more likely to have buck teeth and lack natural gaps, which are needed between teeth in early childhood to allow for larger teeth later.

One of Britain’s top nutritionists, Professor Tim Spector, also said it The Telegraph: ‘We have been dealing with this epidemic of jaw shrinkage for a few hundred years, but it has really accelerated in the past twenty years.

‘As a result, we see a huge increase in orthodontic problems in children: massive use of braces and many more crooked teeth.

The founder of popular nutrition app ZOE added: ‘The strongest current theory as to why jaws have shrunk so quickly is that we are essentially feeding our children baby food all their lives.

“So they just don’t develop the jaw muscles or the jaw size, and you’re not really adapted for chewing.”

One of Britain’s top nutritionists, Professor Tim Spector, also told The Telegraph: ‘We’ve had this epidemic of jaw shrinkage for a few hundred years, but it has really accelerated in the last twenty years.’

The umbrella term UPFs is used for anything edible that is made with colourants, sweeteners and preservatives that extend shelf life.

Ready meals, ice cream and tomato ketchup are some of the most popular examples of products that fall under the umbrella term UPF.

This is now synonymous with foods that provide little nutritional value.

They differ from processed foods, which are tinkered with to make them last longer or improve their taste, such as cured meats, cheese and fresh bread.

Britain is the worst in Europe when it comes to eating UPFs, which make up an estimated 57 percent of the national diet.

They are thought to be a major cause of obesity, which costs the NHS around £6.5 billion a year to treat weight-related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

Last year, worrying data also suggested that children who ate a lot of UPFs showed early signs of poor heart health and risk factors for diabetes as early as age three.

Figures from the House of Commons Library show that almost half (44.6 percent) of children in Britain have not seen an NHS dentist for more than a year.

This equates to around 5.35 million children – an increase of almost half a million based on pre-pandemic data.

The NHS recommends that under-18s have a dental check at least once a year as their teeth can decay more quickly. NHS dental care for children is free.

But NHS dentistry has been in crisis for years, with leaders claiming the sector is chronically underfunded, making it financially unviable to provide treatments.

The problem is made worse by the fact that as more dentists leave the NHS, those that remain are swamped by more and more patients.

Britons have also told how they spent months on waiting lists and traveled abroad to visit a dentist after finding it impossible to get an NHS appointment, labeling the system as ‘Victorian’.

Others have been forced to pull out their own teeth with pliers or travel abroad for treatment.