New research published today (28th January 2008) by Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) shows that many foods eaten by UK children still contain large amounts of salt, in some cases more than half the daily maximum limit for a 6 year old in a single serving.

Research carried out with Netmums, a leading parenting website, also shows that many parents are confused about which foods contain salt.

To mark Salt Awareness Week 2008, CASH calls on parents to check labels carefully and stop buying very salty foods for their children.

The charity also asks the manufacturers, yet again, to lower the amount of salt they put into children’s foods, and provide clear salt labelling to help parents make informed choices.

According to the UK Government’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, four to six year-olds should eat no more than 3g of salt a day, half the adult limit.

One to three year-olds should have no more than 2g a day.

And yet the CASH research found some savoury foods, eaten regularly by children, still on sale in January 2008 with over 1g of salt per serving, which is a third of a six year-old’s daily maximum limit and half the daily salt limit for a three year-old.

The research also revealed a number of sweet foods that parents may not realise contain any salt at all.

“Keeping children’s salt consumption below the recommended maximum limits is vital,” says Professor Graham MacGregor, Chairman of CASH and Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at St George’s Hospital in London.

 “Research published just last year showed that children who eat higher salt diets have higher blood pressure than children who eat less salt.

“It is also well established that blood pressure tracks into adulthood. That is, the higher the blood pressure in childhood, the higher the blood pressure in adulthood.”

 “Anything that lowers blood pressure 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 it’s not just heart attacks and strokes that are caused by a high-salt diet.  Too much salt is also linked with stomach cancer and osteoporosis and can aggravate the symptoms of asthma.”

“Many parents know that their children should eat less salt than adults,” says Jo Butten, Nutritionist for Consensus Action on Salt and Health, “and we know that most parents do not add salt when they are cooking for their children.

“But they are still confused by labelling that does not clearly state the salt content for a realistic portion and they do not expect sweet foods such as cakes, muffins, puddings and breakfast cereals to contain high levels of salt.”

In November 2007, CASH worked with the parenting website Netmums.com to find out how much parents know about the complicated area of salt and children’s health.

In the survey, only 3% of the parents taking part knew that a blueberry muffin has more salt than two standard bags of crisps (1.1g salt versus 0.5g in each bag of crisps).

Only 10% knew that a serving of Rice Krispie-style breakfast cereal with milk contains more salt than a packet of ready salted crisps (0.65g versus 0.5g). 

“We want to see clear front of pack labelling, including information on how much of a child’s daily limit the food supplies, on all foods eaten by children, adds Jo Butten.

“Many of the parents who took part in the Netmums survey were also confused about the relationship between salt and sodium, with less than half those surveyed (48.2%) knowing that 1g of sodium is equal to 2.5g of salt.

“47.2% thought that sodium is the same as salt, so labels giving only sodium levels will lull these parents into a false sense of security as they try to find lower salt foods for their children.  Parents deserve more support from manufacturers.”