14 DAY TRIAL // Scientists in the United Kingdom have determined in a new investigation that more than 70 percent of all babied aged at around 8 months get way much salt in their diet than the maximum recommended levels. The largest part of this amount of salt comes from highly processed foods.
Experts at the University of Bristol say that the vast majority of such foods are extremely salty. This class includes tinned spaghetti, baked beans, gravy and yeast extract, among many others.
Inadvertently, most parents administer their children with higher-than-normal amounts of sodium chloride – common table salt – from processed foods, but also from cows' milk. The latter has a much higher salt content than human breast milk does.
Pediatricians recommend that parent avoid using cows' milk until the infant is at least one year old. However, the new investigation demonstrates that not many parents listen to such advice, and that this affects the children first and foremost.
In the new paper, which was published online in the latest issue of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the team says that giving infants too much salt can harm the development of their kidneys, as well as instill in them a taste for salty, generally-unhealthy foods.
Later in life, this makes the infants become more likely to consume processed, fatty food, and develop a host of problems that then need to be managed by the public healthcare system. These conclusions were drawn based on an analysis conducted on data collected by the Children of the 90s study.
UB experts say that about 1,200 test participants were surveyed during their work. On average, infants' first contact with solid foods came at around 3-4 months. By the time they were 8 months old, the young ones consumed about twice the maximum daily recommended dosage.
For that age group and up to 12 months, only 400mg sodium per day are recommended. Overall, the UK population consumes way more salt than recommended by National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
“These findings show that salt intakes need to be substantially reduced in children of this age group. Infants need foods specifically prepared for them without added salt, so it is important to adapt the family diet,” UB nutritionists Dr Pauline Emmett and Vicky Cribb explain.
“This research suggests that clear advice is needed for parents about what foods are suitable for infants. This should be given to all parents and carers and should include the important advice not to use cows’ milk as a main drink before 12 months of age,” say the experts, who led the new study.