Unhealthy levels of sodium in infants’ diets, study reveals

A study recently published by the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition has revealed shocking statistics that 70 per cent of eight-month old babies are regularly eating a diet that contains too much salt.

It concluded that the children’s diets contained an over-reliance upon processed food products, including yeast extract, gravy, baked beans and tinned spaghetti.

The study argues that the level of salt put into these foods as they are prepared before being put into tins for sale, is at unhealthy levels for children, particularly for those whose diet is heavily reliant on such products.

The situation is further exacerbated by the fact that many parents of children of this age ignore advice not to feed their child cows’ milk until they are one year old.

Compared to breast or formula milk, cows’ milk has higher levels of salt.

Experts have warned that the excessive consumption of salt by babies in this age range could have long term implications for their health.

There is the potential for the excess salt to cause serious tissue damage to developing kidneys as well as exposing them to additional health issues in later life. There is also the fear that growing up on a diet with an excess in salt will mean that children are more likely to continue to eat too much salt as they develop into teenagers and adults.

Dr Pauline Emmett and Vicky Cribb, who conducted the research, stated; “infants need foods specifically prepared for them without added salt, so it is important to adapt the family diet.”

The study comes at a time when lowering the amount of salt (also labelled as sodium) in food is part of a new government initiative. The Responsibility Deal, aims to reduce the levels of salt in food as well as removing other unhealthy additives, such as trans-fats by the end of September 2011.