Excessive Salt and The Effects on Babies and Children

What is Salt?
According to Wikipedia, salt is a dietary mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride that is essential for animal life, but can be toxic to many land plants. Salt flavor is one of the basic tastes, making salt one of the oldest, most ubiquitous food seasoning.

While salt (sodium) is one of the primary electrolytes in the body, the use of excessive salt can lead to major health problems especially for babies and children.

Recommended Intakes
Like adults, babies do need salt. Breast milk provide right amount of salt for babies, therefore no added salt is needed in their foods. Likewise, infant formula also does the same. On the other hand, homemade baby food that contains natural sources of salt (no added salt while cooking) such as veggies, fruits, plain meats, poultries, fishes and eggs will do just fine for babies. Now, the question is how much is too much?

Salt (Sodium)
Salt is needed for body but the amount will depend on how much the kidneys are able to cope. Newborns, weaning and toddlers (less than 12 months old) have immature kidneys, therefore they are unable to process excessive sodium. Below are recommended daily intake of salt (sodium) depends on age:
• 0 to 12 months - less than 1g (0.4g sodium) a day
• 1 to 3 years - 2g (0.8g sodium) a day
• 4 to 6 years - 3g (1.2g sodium) a day
• 7 to 10 years - 5g (2.0g sodium) a day
• From 11 years - 6g (2.4g sodium) a day
Besides, there are other unnecessary foods that parents tend to give their babies (under 12 months) as flavorings which may cause serious problem. Many parents did not realize that additional sugar and honey in their foods is another way to simply create more health issues.

Sugar
Babies under 12 months old does not require additional sugar for daily intake. Sugary food may cause tooth decay when their first tooth come out. Additionally, sugar will give unnecessary calories, which does not add any benefits to the body.
Honey
Honey contains spores of a germ called Clostridium Botulinum which can cause serious health problem for babies under 12 months old. This germ will affect their intestine and caused Botulism. Poisonous toxin formed by this germ will paralyze various muscles in the body. The symptoms are poor sucking, weak cry, irritability, lack of facial expression (due to paralyzed facial muscle) and trouble breathing.


Effects on Health (if excessive)
• Kidney Problem
First of all, what do the kidneys do? According to National Kidney & Urologic Disease Information , kidneys are sophisticated reprocessing machines. The body uses food for energy and self-repairs. After the body has taken what it needs from foods, wastes are sent to the blood and kidneys will sift out waste products and extra water. The wastes and water become urine, which flows to the bladder through tubes called ureters. If the kidneys did not remove them, the wastes would build up in the blood and damage the body.

Babies’ kidneys are one of the most fragile organs. Imagine what will happen to the immature kidneys when they are unable to process the high amount of added salt? Truth to be told, kidneys will easily injured by minor disruptions as such thus lead to kidneys’ failure.

• High Blood Pressure (hypertension)
How does salt (sodium) related to high blood pressure? According to AmericanHeart.org, regulating blood pressure is linked to the kidneys’ ability to excrete enough sodium chloride to maintain normal sodium balance. Kidney disease is the most common cause of high blood pressure (secondary hypertension). Even minor disruptions in kidney function will contribute to this issue (though not all cases).

• Long-term Effects
Although some babies survived the excess salt, the effects may still occur in long-term period. The kidneys’ injury which caused from earlier disruptions may eventually lead to malignant hypertension, stroke or even death. In long-term, we do not want our children to rely on salt to help them eat their food, isn’t it?


Useful Tips
As for parents, making homemade baby food is like taking a safety measure as they will have full control over the ingredients their babies are eating. The most important thing in reducing the amount of salt in their foods are knowing the right ingredients and knowing how to cook them. However, the lack of information will lead parents nowhere better. Below are some tips and guides to lead a healthy eating habit for children.

• For children above 1 years old, reduce the amount of salt intakes by cutting down on salty snacks like crisps and nuts, and substitutes them with the low-salt snacks such as dried fruit, crunchy vegetables and fresh fruits.
• When cooking, make it a habit to taste it first before adding any additives.
• Eat less of salty foods like cheese, bacon, anchovies and pickles.
• Always read the nutrition facts before buying any packed foods especially one that meant for babies. Make it a habit.
• Many fast food chains offer children’s menu but usually they come with high amount of salt like fried chicken, fries and burgers. Always choose the menu that offer healthier items such as salads and fruits.
• Cereals are always a good breakfast. But they also contains high amount of salt. Choose only cereals with low salt or pick from a company that really offers assurance for it.
• A toast for breakfast is great but when it comes with margarine or savory spreads like marmite or peanut butter, then it is now contains more salt. Bread itself contains salt and we will never need any more addition.
• ‘Lightly salted’ snacks and ‘low salt’ snacks are not the same. By law, products that described as ‘low salt’ must be genuinely low in salt. Therefore, choose wisely.


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