Salt and Blood Pressure in Children
Salt and Blood Pressure in Children
High salt diets in children lead to raised blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke later in life.
A new large research study showed that for each extra gram of salt eaten there was a 0.4mmHg (millimeters of mercury) increase in systolic blood pressure. This means that ten extra grams of salt a day would increase the upper blood pressure number (called the systolic blood pressure) by 4 mmHg
This is an important finding which confirms that eating too much salt increases blood pressure in childhood.
The differences in systolic blood pressure between children with higher and lower salt diets may appear small, but making reductions of this order in childhood is likely to translate into lower levels of blood pressure in adult life, with reduced risk of developing heart disease and stroke and potentially huge gains in public health being possible
The advice to parents is to read the labels, especially in foods where you wouldn't expect a lot of salt, such as cereals. Try to avoid high blood pressure in children by reducing their salt intake.
The Food Standards Agency in the UK recommends that younger children receive less salt than older ones.
Children aged from 1 to 3-years-old should have a maximum of 2gm salt per day,
Children aged from 4 to 6-year-olds should have a maximum of 3gm,
Children from 7 to 10 year-olds should have a maximum of 5gm and for 11 and older it should be 6gm at the very most.
They also recommend that babies never be given extra salt on their food.
These figures are maximum daily recommendations, and parents should strive to have less than that, if possible.
What you do now in terms of your child's salt intake could shape their health record for the rest of their lives.
High salt diets in children lead to raised blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke later in life.
A new large research study showed that for each extra gram of salt eaten there was a 0.4mmHg (millimeters of mercury) increase in systolic blood pressure. This means that ten extra grams of salt a day would increase the upper blood pressure number (called the systolic blood pressure) by 4 mmHg
This is an important finding which confirms that eating too much salt increases blood pressure in childhood.
The differences in systolic blood pressure between children with higher and lower salt diets may appear small, but making reductions of this order in childhood is likely to translate into lower levels of blood pressure in adult life, with reduced risk of developing heart disease and stroke and potentially huge gains in public health being possible
The advice to parents is to read the labels, especially in foods where you wouldn't expect a lot of salt, such as cereals. Try to avoid high blood pressure in children by reducing their salt intake.
The Food Standards Agency in the UK recommends that younger children receive less salt than older ones.
Children aged from 1 to 3-years-old should have a maximum of 2gm salt per day,
Children aged from 4 to 6-year-olds should have a maximum of 3gm,
Children from 7 to 10 year-olds should have a maximum of 5gm and for 11 and older it should be 6gm at the very most.
They also recommend that babies never be given extra salt on their food.
These figures are maximum daily recommendations, and parents should strive to have less than that, if possible.
What you do now in terms of your child's salt intake could shape their health record for the rest of their lives.
Labels: high blood pressure, salt and blood pressure, treatment
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