By
The Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska Native health officials declared war on soda pop Monday, launching an effort to reduce what they describe as rampant consumption that is rotting the teeth of Native children.
The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, which provides health services to more than 110,000 Alaska Natives, said it will start by asking vendors at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage to stock their machines with healthier alternatives such as juice and water.
The consortium also is planning to send a letter to store managers in hundreds of Alaskan communities asking for their cooperation, said spokeswoman Joaqlin Estus.
The consortium is fighting an uphill battle, said Rowena Mandanas, a dentist with the Norton Sound Health Corp., which serves 15 western Alaskan villages. Soda machines are in all the schools and it is normal for children to drink six to eight cans a day, she said.
"I've had to pull permanent teeth out of 6-year-olds because of tooth decay," Mandanas said.
Jennifer Bordon, a dentist with the Maniilaq Health Center in Kotzebue, said it costs more than $100,000 a year to bring in a pediatric dentist. She's seen 3-year-olds with their two front teeth rotted out because they suck on bottles and sip from cups filled with soda pop, bathing their teeth in sugar all day long, she said.
"It is a huge problem," Mandanas said.
Aggravating the problem are contracts between Alaskan schools and soft drink companies giving them exclusive rights to sell their products in the school buildings, said Michael Lengenfelder, president of the Alaska School Food Service Association.
