By Supernanny Team 05/02/2007
Adding salt to food has become as natural as eating itself to many of us. But recent newspaper reports have opened our eyes to the damage it could be doing. Headlines that claim “Salt is killing our children” are hard to ignore, but what do they mean, and how much of a problem is this seemingly-innocent seasoning?
Humans need salt. In fact, the average body contains a whole cupful of it – it’s used to carry electrical impulses to the muscles and nerves, and also regulates blood pressure. The body is normally pretty good at regulating levels – if it has too much salt, you become thirsty and drink fluids to flush it out. But there’s only so much the body can do, and when it becomes overloaded with salt, it’s impossible to flush all the excess away.
So why are we eating so much more salt now? Few people are guilty of liberally-peppering the family meal with gram upon gram of it.
The problem arises instead from processed convenience foods: responsible for 75 percent of our daily intake of salt. Although the high fat and calorie content of these foods is widely known, the fact they’re packed with salt is often overlooked.
And shockingly, food aimed at children is just as guilty. Analysis on the nutritional content of food and drink advertised on TV during children’s viewing times shows that between 95 and 99 percent of these foods contain a high proportion of fat, sugar or salt – and parents and experts are beginning to voice their disapproval.
Why salt can be bad
Some people think it’s just the elderly who need to watch their salt intake, as it makes them more prone to strokes from high blood pressure. But what children eat now can have a huge effect on their health later in life. A high salt intake may mean high blood pressure, osteoporosis, kidney stones, heart disease and strokes. Osteoporosis and kidney stones have even been detected in children – proving salt intake is a problem for their present as well as future health.
Research has even suggested that a high salt consumption can aggravate asthma. It was shown that a reduction in salt was associated with an improvement in symptoms of asthma. So although salt is not a direct cause, it seems a high intake can act as an aggravating factor.
Children may also become dehydrated from too much salt – especially worrying as it’s been shown that they often don’t drink enough fluid to protect their kidneys.
How much is too much?
A recent survey by the Trading Standards Institute (TSI) revealed the extent of over-consumption of salt among children. Under-ones are recommended to have less than one gram per day; one to three years, two grams per day; four to six years, three grams per day; and seven to 10 years, five grams per day.
The survey looked at typical foods consumed by children and discovered it was possible for them to consume up to 13.5 grams of salt per day by choosing the worst offenders at meal times.
It was also estimated th...
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