Drinking bottled water has become fashionable, even among teenagers who have started passing up sugary soft drinks for swigs of spring water. Nutritionists generally applaud the trend, but a new study suggests bottled water consumers are giving up pounds for cavities.
British researchers attending the World Dental Congress in Montreal warn that there isn' t enough fluoride in bottled water to protect against tooth decay. After analyzing 25 brands of bottled water, they found fluoride levels to be, in some cases, only half of what' s found in tap water.
Until municipal water companies began adding fluoride to water supplies in the 1960s, children usually had a mouthful of cavities by the time they reached adolescence. But that trend soon began to change, and dentists celebrated fluoride as one of the century' s greatest health achievements.
But now that trend seems to be running in reverse. One Canadian dentist told the Congress that in the last decade, cavities in children are up, approaching pre-1960s levels.
It's not the first time that dentists have raised concerns about bottled water. Five years ago a study in Cleveland found 95 percent of the bottled water tested had fluoride levels that fell short of state guidelines. While some bottled water contains fluoride, bottlers are not required to specify the amount, making it impossible for parents to tell if their children are receiving an adequate supply.
