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Salt intake in childhood leads to severe diseases in the future
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Scientists from Britain studied the composition of products that are included in the daily diet of children and came to the conclusion that modern children, starting from the age of one, consume too much salt.
Bread and other grain products that children consume daily contain increased amounts of salt, which, according to experts, threatens serious health problems in the future. The experts published their research in a scientific journal.
As is known, salt increases blood pressure, and small children are no exception, so parents need to control its content in their children's diet.
In their research project, the specialists analyzed the urine of more than three hundred children, whose parents carefully recorded their diet, how much was eaten, how much food was left. As a result, the scientists were able to find out that children aged 5-6 ate about 4 g of salt daily, 8-9 years old - about 5 g of salt, 13-17 years old - almost 8 g of salt. At the same time, the scientists determined that boys ate about a gram more salt than girls, and at the age of 13-17, 2.5 grams more. Children received 11% of salt from dairy products, 19% from meat, and 36% from grains. It is quite difficult for parents to protect children from eating foods with a high salt content. This can only be done if you cook food yourself, using natural and fresh products. Particularly dangerous are semi-finished products, pizzas, various sauces and ketchups, sausages, crackers and nuts. Therefore, before eating certain products, it is recommended to check the amount of salt on the packaging.
British experts recommend that adults consume no more than 6 grams of salt daily, and the US Heart Association limits daily salt intake for both adults and children to 3.7 grams (slightly less than a teaspoon). According to some statistics, children from one to 18 years old (almost 93% of children) consume an increased amount of salt. At this stage, experts intend to develop a program to reduce salt in children's daily diets. A similar program for adults already exists, and this has reduced salt consumption by 15% in six years. However, scientists intend to continue the fight against high salt content in foods, especially in bread.
Excessive salt consumption increases the risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases, even in one-year-old children. Also, in the course of some studies, scientists have found that excessive salt consumption increases the risk of death. In addition, it has previously been proven that high salt content in the diet has a negative effect on immunity, more precisely on immune T-cells, which the body produces to fight viruses and infections.
High salt consumption is also associated with the development of diseases such as multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases (asthma, eczema, alopecia).