Labour plans for teachers to oversee kids brushing their teeth
Its been met with criticism from some teaching bodies
Labour plans to introduce supervised toothbrushing for young children in free breakfast clubs under plans to boost the health of children across the nation.
Sir Keir Starmer said tooth decay should be "consigned to the history books" as he announced plans to boost dental services to ensure children can get appointments when they need one.
Labour previously said it would introduce supervised toothbrushing in schools for children aged three to five.
But the announcement drew criticism from teaching unions, with leaders saying it is "not the role of teachers to be making sure children brush their teeth each day".
The party has now honed in on the detail of the plans, saying the "targeted" national supervised toothbrushing programme would be rolled out in "fully funded breakfast clubs".
The clubs will be introduced in every primary school so "every child is able to start the day with a healthy breakfast and parents are able to get to work", Labour said.
Speaking before a visit to a leading children's hospital, Sir Keir said:
"Tooth decay, stunted growth and stalling life expectancy should be consigned to the history books, but instead they're the reality of Tory Britain.
"Healthy, happy children is not a nice to have, it's a basic right, with economic urgency. We want the next generation to be chasing their dreams, not a dentist appointment. They should be aspiring to reach their potential, not reach a doctor.
"Labour will end the scandal of children being held back by poor health and regional inequalities by slashing waits for mental health treatment and hospital appointment, putting prevention first, and fixing NHS dentistry.
"That's the future our children and young people deserve, and that's the future a Labour Government will deliver."
Commenting on the plan, Dr Camilla Kingdon, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said:
"At present, the UK has some of the worst child health outcomes in Europe, and child health inequalities continue to widen.
"It is therefore welcome to see the Labour party's intention to publish a dedicated Child Health Action Plan, which outlines many of the calls paediatricians have been making repeatedly - including tackling paediatric waiting times, supporting the health prevention agenda and providing support for child mental health."
But Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said:
"While it's good to see that supervising toothbrushing won't be a part of the school day itself, or an expectation of teachers, we remain somewhat sceptical about how this will work in practice.
"Questions remain about access to the facilities required to make this proposal work and the staffing implications for breakfast clubs.
"There is no doubt that, as a nation, we should be focused on improving children's dental health, but this will certainly need further thought and additional funding."
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