Trends in sugar intake: do these parallel changes in caries prevalence among S. African preschoolchildren?

Mean sugar intake in South Africa has fallen in Black rural groups and remained more or less constant for their urban counterparts; for Indian groups it has risen, but fallen in White groups. The amounts of sugar in mean snack/sweet intakes have not shown the same degree of fall and have remained relatively constant in all but Indian groups where there has been a definite fall in consumption. Caries prevalences (percentages of children with caries) have risen in all but White groups. It can be concluded that quantitative changes in sugar consumption and caries prevalences do not parallel each other.