A study has found that children in the UK are eating dangerous amounts of salt, which is putting three out of four children at risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and strokes later in life.
The study was published in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension, according to WebMD. The researchers said UK health authorities must do more to make food manufacturers reduce the amount of salt in their products.
Professor Graham MacGregor, along with fellow researchers at Queens Mary, University of London, recorded the salt intake of 340 children from age three to 17 with the help of food diaries and urine samples. They discovered that 70 percent of the kids ate more than the recommended amount of salt and that teenagers ate 50 percent too much, Daily Mail reported.
The researchers also found that boys usually eat more salt than girls, especially in the older and younger age groups, according to The Information Daily. Boys ate 1 more gram per day than girls for 5-6 year olds and 2.5 more grams per day for 13-17 year olds.
MacGregor, study author and professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at Queens Mary, said there needs to be more effort in bringing down the levels of salt in food, The Information Daily reported.
"It is very difficult for parents to reduce children's salt intakes unless they avoid packaged and restaurant foods and prepare each meal from scratch using fresh, natural ingredients," MacGregor said.
Katherine Jenner of the group Consensus Action on Salt and Health said that another important find in this study was that the salt observed is found in bread and cereal, Daily Mail reported.
"Children are not choosing to eat salty foods," Jenner said. "The salt is hidden in there by the food industry and they must take it out."
National Salt Awareness week, which started on Monday and will end on Sunday, aims to raise awareness about salt intake with the theme, "Less salt please," The Information Daily reported. National Salt Awareness week is also looking to control salt use during food preparation and make sure that salt intake goes down.
