Public health officials in Britain's Liverpool are tackling an "alarming level" of child tooth decay in the the city by highlighting the amounts of sugar in popular soft drinks.
A high-profile profile campaign entitled "Is your child's sweet tooth harming their health?" will outline how many sugar cubes are in drinks such as Lucozade, Coca-Cola and Ribena.
Around 2000 children in Liverpool will have had tooth extractions by the age of five and more than a third will have suffered from tooth decay, health chiefs say.
Meanwhile a 14-year-old recently needed 15 adult teeth removing, added Public Health Liverpool.
The campaign highlights that 500ml of Lucozade contains 15.5 cubes (64 grams) of sugar while an equivalent bottle of Coca-Cola has 13.5 cubes (54 grams) - against a maximum daily allowance of five to seven cubes for children depending upon their age.
Cut-out boards highlighting the amounts will be in placed in children's centres, doctors' surgeries, health centres and hospitals.
Director of public health Dr Sandra Davies said: "We are the first local authority in the country to name how much sugar is in specific brands because we feel it is really important that all parents have the facts they need when making decisions about which drinks to give their children.
"Many of us are not in the habit of studying labels on drinks and the evidence that we have is that people don't realise how much sugar is in them, so we are taking steps to support them to make healthier choices.
"Our advice to parents is to take their child to the dentist by the age of one and teach them to brush their teeth correctly from an early age."
NUMBER OF SUGAR CUBES (EACH CONTAINING 4G OF SUGAR) IN POPULAR DRINKS:
- 15.5 Lucozade (500ml)
- 13.5 Coca Cola (500ml)
- 12.7 Frijj chocolate milkshake (471ml)
- 8.25 Capri-Sun (330ml)
- 7.5 Tropicana orange juice(330ml)
- 7.25 Ribena (288ml)
- 5.75 Volvic flavoured water (500ml).
Source: Public Health Liverpool
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