Study on London Children Shows Worrying Levels of Salt Consumption
10 Mar 2014 --- Children in London eat an unhealthy amount of salt on a daily basis, with much of it coming from breads and cereals, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension.
In this London study — so far the largest to measure salt intake in UK youth — teens in particular ate more salt each day than is recommended for adults. Cereal and bread-based products accounted for more than a third (36%) of the salt in children’s diets.
“Around 80% of the salt intake is hidden in foods such as bread, cereals, meat and dairy products and it is up to the food industry to take it out,” the author of the study, Graham MacGregor, MD, told Food Ingredients First. MacGregor, who is also a professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Barts and The London School of Medicine & Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, said: “They are doing this in the UK – most products have been reduced by 20 to 30% over the last seven years - but the food industry is not doing it nearly quick enough and they need to take much larger amounts out.”
“We know that salt starts increasing the risk of high blood pressure in children starting at age one,” said MacGregor. “There needs to be a much greater effort to reduce salt in foods.”
Researchers analyzed 24-hour urine samples of 340 children. This is considered the gold standard of measuring salt consumption. Participants or their parents also kept a detailed food diary and snapped photos of all foods and beverages consumed before they started eating as well as the leftovers when they finished.
The study, which was funded by the British Heart Foundation, found that five and six year-olds consumed 3.75 grams of salt daily while 13 to 17 year-olds consumed 7.55 grams It also discovered that boys tended to have higher salt intake than girls, particularly in the older and younger groups. And in additional to the 36% of salt from breads and cereals, meat products provided 19% while dairy accounted for 11%.
In the UK, adults are advised to eat no more than 6 grams of salt daily. In the US the American Heart Association recommends adults and children eat less than 1,500 mg of sodium, which is equal to 3.7 grams (a little less than a teaspoon) of salt.
The large amount of salt the children ate was seen despite a nationwide salt reduction program in the UK, which is cutting the amount of salt major food companies include in supermarket and restaurant foods.
“While salt intake in children wasn’t measured prior to the UK’s salt-reduction campaign, the salt intake in adults has fallen 15% in six years,” MacGregor said. “So, that policy is working, but it’s not working fast enough. We need to do more and the US needs a similar program,” he said, explaining that children eat the same brands of processed foods and fast foods in both countries.
Excessive salt consumption is one of the major factors contributing to high blood pressure which can lead to heart disease and stroke. Earlier studies have shown that kids with high sodium diets are about 40% more likely to have elevated blood pressure than kids who have lower sodium diets.
MacGregor said the study was conducted because there is very little information on exactly how much salt kids eat and what salty foods they are eating, information he said is necessary before designing an effective salt-reduction plan for kids.
“It is very difficult for parents to reduce children’s salt intake unless they avoid packaged and restaurant foods and prepare each meal from scratch using fresh, natural ingredients,” MacGregor said.
McGregor explained that they study only measured children’s salt intake in London school as that is where they are based. “We believe it would be the same in other parts of the UK but we suggest that a bigger study should be done.”
By Sonya Hook
