Allowing your kids to eat too much salt in their diet can increase their chances of becoming overweight or obese, a new study in Australia has revealed.
In fact, kids who eat the most salt are at risk of developing abdominal obesity — the most dangerous type of fat — which can lead to cardiovascular disease and diabetes, researchers said.
Most of the salt we eat everyday are excreted in our urine, and so experts from Deakin University have analyzed the urine samples of more than 650 Australian school children.
The research team has found that almost three out of four of school children eat above the recommended salt intake.
The recommended daily amount of salt for children is only 4 to 5 grams, but the participants in the study were eating 6 grams of salt on average, which is more than a teaspoon, researchers said.
Dr. Carley Grimes, lead author of the report, said each extra gram is linked to a 23 percent greater possibility of becoming overweight or obese.
"Such high intakes of salt are setting children up for a lifetime risk of future chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and heart disease," said Grimes.
Much of the salt that school children consume is typical in everyday food such as cheese, bread, ham and sausages. Those that contain high salt content have enhanced flavor, but they are also higher in energy and fat.
Grimes said a high-salt diet may also encourage consumption of high-calorie, sugar-sweetened beverages.
Meanwhile, the occurrence of abdominal obesity was found to be higher in children from aged 4 to 12 years old, who consumed more amounts of salt. Carrying that extra weight around the stomach increases a child's risk of developing chronic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes.
With that, Grimes said their findings are ringing alarm bells, providing good evidence to indicate the need to reduce the amount of salt intake among children.
Professor Garry Jennings, CEO of the National Heart Foundation which funded the study, agrees that this is a cause for concern.
"It highlights the importance of salt reduction to reduce the risk of future chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and heart disease later in life," said Jennings.
Food labels with salt warning are a must to regulate salt intake, researchers said.
The findings of the study are featured in the British Journal of Nutrition.
