DENTISTS in Cornwall have signed up to a campaign to reduce the amount of sugary drinks and snacks consumed by children.

One in five youngsters in the South West have decayed, missing or filled teeth by the time they are five years old, says Public Health England.

Now a Change4Life campaign is encouraging parents and children to choose healthier snacks.

Leaflets given out in schools suggest fruit and vegetables as replacements for biscuits and other high calorie snacks - and parents are being offered vouchers for healthier alternatives.

Dentist Elise Helps said: ‘It is great to have this opportunity to join forces and raise awareness of the simple, achievable things every family can do to improve dental health in children.

’It is not just childhood obesity that too much sugar leads to. I am often shocked at what I come across in my dentist’s chair – far too much decay and too many fillings in those far too young.’