New research supports lower salt diet for children and young people
7th September 2007
New research published today in The Journal of Human Hypertension shows that UK children and adolescents with higher salt diets have higher levels of blood pressure. The research, based on the data collected in the National Diet and Nutrition Survey for young people in Great Britain (NDNS), shows a significant association of salt intake with systolic blood pressure after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index and dietary potassium intake.
This new analysis of a random sample of free-living individuals, is consistent with the findings from a recent meta-analysis of controlled salt reduction trials in children and adolescents and provides further support for a reduction in salt intake in young people.
The NDNS was carried out in 1997 in a nationally representative sample of 2,127 children aged between 4 and 18 years. 1,658 participants had both salt intake and blood pressure recorded. Salt intake was assessed by a seven-day dietary record. Using this data, the authors found that for each extra 1g of salt eaten by the participants, there was a related 0.4mmHg increase in systolic blood pressure. Thus the children eating the highest salt diet had the highest levels of blood pressure, even after other factors such as age, sex and BMI had been taken into account.
It is well established that blood pressure tracks in children. That is, the higher the blood pressure in childhood, the higher the blood pressure in adulthood. Anything that lowers blood pressure in children is likely to reduce the number of people developing high blood pressure later in life.
"This is an important finding which confirms that eating more salt increases blood pressure in childhood and also adds extra weight to the current public health campaign to reduce salt in the UK diet," said Professor Malcolm Law, Professor of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine. "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.”
“This new research is yet more evidence that children who eat more salt have higher blood pressure in childhood, not just in later life,” said Jo Butten, Nutritionist for Consensus Action on Salt and Health. “The message for parents is to check labels, especially on foods such as breakfast cereals and snack products, which they may not expect to contain high levels of salt, and choose the lower salt options. 1.5g of salt may not sound much, but parents need to know that it is half a six year-old’s maximum recommended upper limit of salt for a whole day (3g) and 30% of a ten year-old’s (5g).
“It may be difficult for parents to tell their children they can’t have crisps every day, or that they need to eat a different breakfast cereal, or that some instant noodles should be avoided completely, but surely it’s a small price to pay to reduce their risk of having a heart attack or stroke when they are older?”
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Click here for the author's reply to Professor Alderman's commentary
