Rural children, who it stands to reason would be more likely to not be drinking fluoridated water, have higher odds of being overweight or obese than urban.

https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2023/23_0136.htm

I am an academic scientist and generally a careful and skeptical person, but having read the peer reviewed literature myself, I think there is enough evidence to be concerned that water fluoridation at the levels currently used could possibly be causing brain damage or developmental issues. The evidence isn't that strong, but it is strong enough that it would be unethical to continue the practice, or to claim that there is nothing to worry about. The dose/response curves seem to show measurable levels of cognitive defects occurring right around, or just above typical target levels for fluoridation.

Personally, I give my kid water with the flouride filtered out via RO, but will still use topical flouride, e.g. toothpaste and treatments applied by a dentist.

I hate how issues like this are politicized... if I raise this issue anywhere, including on here I expect to be attacked for being a "conspiracy theorist" and "like an anti-vaxxer" etc. There is something really wrong when you aren't allowed to even talk about both sides of an issue- especially if, like in my case, I have a doctorate in the life sciences and am qualified to have my own informed scientific opinion based on the evidence.

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