Salt
Angela Onwuzoo
Nutritionists have said adding excess salt to food given to children should be discouraged as their taste preferences are formed early and also cited the risk of hypertension later in life.
The food experts said it is important to train children to avoid unnecessary salt and to also keep the saltshaker off the dinner table.
The nutritionists warned that exposing children to large quantities of sodium may lead to high blood pressure later in life.
They reminded parents that most of the sodium in diets does not come from salt added at the table or while cooking.
According to them, almost 80 per cent of the sodium in our diets comes from processed foods like bread, soups, seasonings, salty snacks, fast foods, canned foods, or processed meats.
The American Academy of Paediatrics recommended that the average daily sodium requirement is much less, ranging from 1,200 mg of sodium for four to eight-year-old children, to 1,500 mg for nine to 18-year-olds.
This, the body states amounts to about half a teaspoon of salt a day.
A nutrition expert, Professor Ignatius Onimawo told PUNCH Healthwise in an interview that it is unhealthy for parents to feed their children salty food, warning that such children stand the risk of having hypertension in the future.
Professor Ignatius Onimawo
According to the nutritionist, in the short term, too much sodium in the diet can be harmful to the developing kidneys and in the long term, infants may acquire a taste for salty foods, which could result in later health problems.
Onimawo, a former Vice-Chancellor of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, disclosed that once babies develop a very high taste for salt, later on in life, they run the risk of becoming hypertensive.
The former President of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria urged parents not to give their children salty food to prevent the development of habits that could lead to hypertension in the future.
The nutritionist said, “Giving children salty foods when they are so small, the tendency is that they develop a very high taste for salt which they grow up with. And you know as they grow up, with increased salt intake, they have the risk of hypertension later in life.
“There are some people who are so used to it that even when there is enough salt in the food, they must still want to add salt.
“You must have observed that some people do that. It is what I developed from childhood when they were very small.
“They were given too much salty food when they were small. Once that habit develops, later on in life, they will now run the risk of becoming hypertensive.”
The World Health Organisation recommends that every adult should consume less than five grams of salt or less than one teaspoon daily to maintain a healthy life.
WHO, however, said most people still consume too much salt, an average of nine to 12 grams daily or about twice the recommended maximum level of intake per day.
According to the organisation, too much of the product increases the risk of developing high blood pressure, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases, which adds to healthcare costs by governments.
It said that around 2.5 million deaths might be prevented each year if global salt consumption could be reduced to the recommended level.
Onimawo counselled mothers not to joke with their children’s diets and to avoid feeding them high levels of salt.
He reiterated that consuming too much salt can have serious negative effects on their health.
The don added, “When it comes to the issue of processing salt in the system, the kidney is key to that. It will increase their sensitivity to salt.
“Once a food does not have enough salt, they are not likely to enjoy that food and so they want to continue to add salt. So, mothers should not give babies salty food to prevent the development of habits that could lead to hypertension in the future.”
Also speaking with our correspondent, a Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nwabumma Asouzu, said, “Moreover, if parents enforce a healthier lifestyle at home, many problems could be avoided.
“What children learn at home about eating healthy foods, exercising, and making the right nutritional choices will eventually spill over into other aspects of their lives. This will have the biggest influence on the choices kids make when selecting foods to consume at school and fast‑food restaurants, and choosing to be active.
“Focusing on these causes may, over time, decrease childhood obesity and lead to a healthier society as a whole.”
In a 2017 article published in PMC journal, titled, ‘Infants’ and Children’s Salt Taste Perception and Liking: A Review’, the authors said the problem with high levels of sodium consumption at a young age is two-fold.
“Firstly, it sets children up for developing high blood pressure during childhood and adulthood. Secondly, children might get used to eating high levels of salt, and expect a certain level of saltiness in their foods. This potentially leads to unhealthy food choices during child and adulthood”, they noted.
Authors in other similar articles say although small levels of sodium may be beneficial during infancy, high intakes may be detrimental to infant health.
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