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Salt “Time Bomb” For Children

Friday 26 January 2007

Nearly every child in Northern Ireland is eating too much salt, according to a leading medical charity.

Nearly every child in Northern Ireland is eating too much salt, according to a leading medical charity.

Northern Ireland Chest, Heart and Stroke says much of their salt intake is hidden in processed foods, so the exact extent of the problem is hard to gauge. But the average Primary One child is eating nearly twice as much salt as recommended, even before adding any at the table. The government recommends that 4-6 year-olds should consume no more than three grams of salt each day – and preferably less than that. But figures suggest that the average child is eating five grams.

Teenagers eat more than a gram per day above the recommended level.
“One gram may not sound like a lot,” says the charity’s Chief Executive, Andrew Dougal. “But over the course of a year it adds up to nearly a pound of excess salt that is contributing to the risk of stroke and heart attack in later life. The salt intake of younger children is even more alarming.”

While some food manufacturers have reduced the level of salt in processed foods – largely as a result of pressure by health campaigners – much still needs to be done.

Says Mr Dougal: “Almost every food item the average child is attracted to has an unnecessarily large salt content. Some cornflakes have more salt than seawater. Many shop-bought pizzas are laden with it, and salt figures prominently in the list of ingredients in tomato ketchup. It’s also in processed meats, bread and, of course, in crisps. The problem is that asking people about their salt intake in dietary surveys is notoriously unreliable, because they tend to underestimate. We will have a more accurate picture when research funded by the Food Standards Agency is published, because it is seeking to assess people’s salt consumption in a much more accurate way.”

Food labels confuse the subject even further, because often they do not list salt as an ingredient. Instead, they quote the figure for sodium, which must be multiplied by two and a half to obtain the salt content.
The charity advises people:
[ul]
[li]Don't add salt at the table - use other flavourings like herbs and spices (but not soy sauce)
[li]Make your own stock instead of using stock cubes
[li]Avoid crisps and salted peanuts
[li]Go easy on bacon, sausages, and takeaway foods
[li]Check food labels. Anything with less than 0.2 grams of sodium per hundred grams is okay. Food containing more than 0.5 gram of sodium per hundred grams should be avoided.
[/ul]
NICHS urges food manufacturers to use a traffic lights system on the front of food packages. “This has been produced by the Food Standards Agency and independent research commissioned by organizations like “Which” magazine found that it was most easily understood by members of the public,” said Andrew Dougal of NICHS.

National Salt Awareness Week runs from January 29 to February 4, 2007.
Ends

[b]Notes to Editors:[/b]

A recent FSA tracking survey** shows that shoppers clearly understand this approach. 76% of those asked interpreted a red light on a product as meaning the food is high in something that we should be trying to cut down or keeping an eye on – only 16% interpreted it as meaning it is unhealthy and shouldn’t be eaten at all.

**Food Standards Agency consumer tracking survey conducted by RSGB with a representative sample of c.2000 UK adults in January 2007.

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