An excess of s alt in a child's diet can result in serious illness many years later. S alt causes the excretion of calcium in the urine, causing demineralization and blocking bone growth. Consuming large amounts of s alt raises blood pressure to a dangerous level, and is indirectly associated with the increasing frequency of overweight and obesity. What harm can too much s alt in your diet do?
S alt consumption in childhood has an impact on he alth in adulthood
The way of eating in childhood and the acquired habits have a significant impact on the shaping of eating habits and the he alth condition of an adult. Excessive s alt consumption by children may influence the development of a preference for a s altier taste.
Children don't need as much s alt as adults. The smaller the child, the less s alt he should eat, and babies should not consume it at all.
Children like uns alted food
The taste of s alty is unknown to an infant, only in the first year of life, as they eat s alted foods, adults will introduce them to the child. It is worth noting that the vast majority of children, uns alted dishes taste equally good, and they stop to taste only when children learn to s alt them.
Therefore, do not s alt dietary products intended for infants and young children, as well as give children dishes seasoned according to the taste preferences of adults, or teach them to s alt them at the table. Proper eating habits are most easily formed in childhood and adolescence. This also applies to s alt consumption.
What can eating s alty foods result from in childhood?
In adults, excessive s alt intake is closely associated with high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, and an increased incidence of stroke. Today we know that also in children, high s alt intake contributes to the development of hypertension and may be the cause of many other diseases in adulthood. Children are a group particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of excess s alt due to their small body size and low blood volume. The blood vessels of a young organism are weaker and more delicate than those of adults.
WithBy consuming too much s alt, sodium ions retain water in the body, leading to edema, an increase in blood and other body fluids, resulting in high blood pressure and other adverse he alth effects.
Dietary s alt restriction in children has been shown to lower blood pressure, which can slow blood pressure naturally with age and reduce the risk of hypertension later in life.
Excess sodium adversely affects bones
Excess sodium is currently considered to be one of the factors adversely affecting the systemic calcium metabolism. Consuming too much s alt with the diet can lead to increased bone demineralization as it increases urinary calcium excretion as well as magnesium excretion.
Therefore, excessive s alt consumption by children may adversely affect the proper development of the skeletal system. It is worth mentioning that a person builds peak bone mass by about 28-30 years of age and the higher the bone mass he achieves, the lower the risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures later in life. That is why it is important - apart from ensuring the right amounts, e.g. calcium and vitamin D in the diet and maintaining physical activity - also avoiding factors that adversely affect the condition of the bones (including excess s alt) at every stage of a person's life, especially during intensive growth of the body.
S alt leads to the development of obesity
Overweight and obesity are also associated with excessive s alt intake. This is a problem that does not only affect adults, as it increasingly affects children and adolescents as well. Although s alt does not directly cause obesity, it is one of the major contributors to obesity. Children who consume large amounts of s alt in their diets tend to drink more drinks, including sweetened ones. Consuming such drinks is one of the causes of childhood obesity, as it is associated with an increase in the amount of energy consumed with food.
In children, kidney functions are not well-developed yet, so the ability to remove excess sodium from the body is relatively low. Too much s alt intake by children puts too much strain on the kidneys as they cannot cope with the removal of the excess s alt. It also contributes to the increase in the amount of protein excreted in the urine, which is a major risk factor for the development of kidney disease. Excessive s alt intake causes atrophic changes in the gastric mucosa and increases the risk of Helicobacter infection.pylori, which may cause stomach cancer to form. There are also studies showing that excess s alt in children's diets may contribute to increased bronchial reactivity and the development of asthma.
Text prepared on the basis of materials prepared by Dr. Anna Wojtasik, who belongs to the team of experts from the Institute of Jewish Economics who implement the "Keep the Balance" Project, which is part of the Swiss-Polish Cooperation Program.
Food and Nutrition Institute