similar to The letters to the editor writer Sune Forslund, I think that there is a strong argument that we should introduce a sockerskatt in Sweden, or maybe even tax reform with lower taxes on fruit and vegetables in the other end – in order to counter the growing levels of obesity, for example. At the same time, I believe that it is important that the arguments you present are well informed with facts from authoritative sources.
Sune Forslund writes: ”more people have worse teeth”. This is a claim that lacks support in the sources that I consider to be relevant in the context, namely the national Board of health and Tandläkartidningen.
the national Board of health publishes an annual comprehensive statistics on american dental health. In an easily accessible summary statistikblad from may 2018, we may on page 3 to read the headline: ”Adult dental health has become better”. The blade begins, however, with the national Board of health lifts a warning finger already on the blade’s front page: Unequal dentistry, but it is something different than tandhälsan generally would have deteriorated.
Also Tandläkartidningen notes in an article from april 2016 to: ”Tandhälsan getting better – but inequality is increasing”. Particular highlights to the flerdecennielånga the trend with the reduction of caries in children appears to have been broken. It is written further in the newspaper: ”One possible explanation that has been put forward is that asylum seeker children often have poorer dental health”, something that you in the body of an article then don’t try to lead in evidence as contributing explanatory factor.
Clear is the inequality of dental health that both the Welfare and Tandläkartidningen highlights, in essence, is about tandhälsan is worse in socially disadvantaged areas. In such a situation, there are reasons to question whether a general sockerskatt or tax reform that is directed towards the entire population is the right action to tackle this specific problem or if a better solution would be targeted measures.
