AUSTRALIAN kids are eating dangerous amounts of salt, putting them at risk of heart problems later in life, according to a new study.
DEAKIN University researchers examined the sodium intake of 295 children at ages nine months and 18 months.
They found that 54 per cent of the toddlers had salt intakes higher than the recommended upper level. The mean salt intake at nine months is a quarter of a teaspoon (1.2 grams), which increases to half a teaspoon at 18 months (2.7 grams). The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council has set the upper daily levels of salt for one to three year olds at 2.5 grams. The major sources of salt in the childrens’ diets were bread, processed cheese, cereals, processed meat, packaged soups and yeast spreads. “These foods were consumed by lots of kids and they provided the lion’s share of the salt,” said associate professor Karen Campbell from Deakin University’s Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research. “These are not foods that you necessarily think of as being very salty, they’re just everyday foods.” Assoc Prof Campbell said the salt levels coming from bread and cereals need to be addressed. “We know this can be done really successfully and the UK provides a fantastic model. “We have almost double the sodium in our breads and cereals than they do in the UK.” High salt diets early in life can set children on a lifetime trajectory of raised blood pressure, increasing their risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease as adults, she said. “It is also worrying because we know that taste preferences are set early in life; so if you learn to like and prefer salty foods when you are young, you will continue to like and prefer them as an adult, adding to your risk of high blood pressure.”