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Six-Week Plan To Reduce Your Danger From Salt

Monday 28 January 2008

A leading heart charity is warning that some adults and children in Northern Ireland exceed their recommended daily salt intake before they have finished breakfast.

A leading heart charity is warning that some adults and children in Northern Ireland exceed their recommended daily salt intake before they have finished breakfast.

If you have an Ulster fry, that's almost certainly the case, says Northern Ireland Chest, Heart and Stroke. But even apparently healthy cereals and bread can contain surprisingly high levels of salt, which is a major risk factor for high blood pressure. That, in turn, increases the risk of heart attack or stroke.

A Channel 4 documentary recently pointed out that All-Bran has more salt per 100 grams than a packet of crisps. Some brands of cornflakes are saltier than seawater.

NI Chest, Heart and Stroke Chief Executive Andrew Dougal said: "A bowl of cereal alone can give a child aged three up to a third of its salt allowance for the day. That doesn't even begin to take into account the salt in processed foods that most children eat for lunch or in the evening. It figures prominently in the list of ingredients in tomato ketchup and baked beans, for example. Processed pizzas can be laden with it, and some pre-prepared cheese or ham lunches that you can buy in the supermarket contain two thirds of the adult daily salt level. The big danger with processed foods is that you can't even taste the salt."

The charity has come up with a six-week plan to help people wean themselves off the taste of salt:

- Week One - don't add salt to your child's food

- Week Two - encourage children not to have salt by setting a good example yourself! Cut down on salt added at the table and in cooking. Use herbs, spices, black pepper and lemon juice to add more flavour instead

- Week Three - compare food labels and choose products with less salt (also listed as sodium)

- Week Four - cut down on very salty foods such as crisps, savoury snacks, salted peanuts, cooked ham, bacon and smoked fish

- Week Five - limit ready meals and takeaway foods. These are often high in salt and can be high in fat too

- Week Six - try cooking from scratch more. That way you will have more control over the amount of salt you are eating

 

The government recommends that 4-6 year-olds should consume no more than three grams of salt each day. Three year-olds should eat even less - two grams. But figures suggest that the average child is eating five grams. The difficulty with food labels is that some only list sodium, which needs to be multiplied by two and a half to obtain the salt content.

Check the food label and go for foods which have as many green traffic lights as possible on the nutrition label. The more green lights on a food label the better!

Teenagers eat more than a gram of salt per day above the recommended level.
"One gram may not sound like a lot," said Mr 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."
National Salt Awareness Week runs from January 28 to February 3, 2008.

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