§ 1990. Miss LestorTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of five-year-old children in the north-west region suffered tooth decay in(a) 1985, (b) 1986, (c) 1987, (d) 1988, (e) 1989 and (f)
§ Mr. DorrellSurveys of five-year-old schoolchildren in the north-west region carried out in the school years 1985–86, 1987–88 and 1989–90 showed that 58 per cent., 55 per cent. and 56 per cent. respectively suffered tooth decay.
§ Miss LestorTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has commissioned on the link between nutritional standards in school meals and the extent of dental caries in young children in the north-west region.
§ Mr. DorrellThe Department has not commissioned any research seeking to establish a link between the nutritional standards in school meals and dental caries in young children, and, indeed, it would be extraordinarily difficult to mount research which isolated the effect of such standards from other factors influencing dental caries.