Food producers urged to cut salt levels for children
Friday September 07 2007
THE food industry has been told to do more to reduce salt in foods commonly eaten by children after new research showed it increased their blood pressure.
The Irish Heart Foundation called for lower salt diets for children in order to establish lower pressure levels for later in life -- in a bid to prevent around 900 unnecessary deaths each year. "We are calling on the food industry to make greater efforts to reduce salt in bread, cereals and processed foods, especially those targeted at children," said IHF president Professor Eoin O'Brien.
The UK's National Diet and Nutrition survey had shown that for every 1g of salt eaten by a child there was a 0.4mm Hg rise in systolic blood pressure.
The study had tracked salt intake of more than 2,000 children aged from four to 18 over a week, and the results have just been published in the Journal of Human Hypertension.
"This research confirms that eating more salt is directly linked with increased blood pressure in childhood. We need to raise awareness about salt consumption and to provide better education on food labelling and sources of salt," said Professor O'Brien.
Irish people eat far too much salt, and reducing salt intake as a child has been shown to help reduce blood pressure later in life.
Eating three grams less a day -- just half a teaspoon -- would reduce the number of strokes by 13pc and of coronary heart disease by 10pc, thereby preventing around 900 deaths each year, the IHF said.
