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Study: Kids Getting Too Much Sodium

Popular snacks contain way too much salt, set kids up for hypertension

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com

September 10, 2007

Salt Assault • Sodium Levels Still High in Processed Foods • How Much Sodium Is Too Much? It Depends • Study: Kids Getting Too Much Sodium • Nutrition Journal Hid Contributors' Ties to Food Industry • Medical Experts Call for FDA Action on Salt • Group Petitions FDA to Limit Salt in Processed Foods • "Salt Assault" Aggravates America's Health Woes • Salt Kills 150,000 a Year, CSPI Charges

Children who snack on chips and other salty treats run the risk of developing high blood pressure, according to British researchers.

Their study, reported in the Journal of Human Hypertension, found that most popular snacks contain higher sodium levels than those recommended by health experts.

The study followed more than two thousand children between the ages of four and 18. The study monitored their salt consumption, but did not include salt added in cooked meals or at the table.

According to the study, the average four-year-old consumed 4.7g of salt a day. Recommendations call for only 2-3g of salt per day in that age group.

What’s wrong with salt consumption? The study found that each extra gram of salt consumed raised blood pressure significantly, leading to a higher risk of heart disease and stroke when they are adults. The children who consumed the most salt also had the highest blood pressure levels.

Excessive salt consumption has also been linked to ailments such as asthma, osteoporosis, and stomach cancer, according to the report.

Experts call for action

Last July, two dozen leading hypertension experts, physicians, and health groups urged urging Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt to swing his agency into action to reduce Americans' salt consumption.

The high salt levels in countless processed foods and restaurant foods are a major factor in raising Americans' blood pressure, which in turn is a major contributor to heart disease and stroke. Blacks are disproportionately at risk for high blood pressure, the experts said.

"There is virtual unanimity within the scientific community regarding the contribution of excessive sodium consumption to cardiovascular disease," the experts wrote, pointing to various government-funded recommendations, including those of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the Institute of Medicine, and the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC-7).

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