Health
Salty foods put children at risk of hypertension — Experts
Iyanuoluwa Abiola
Regular consumption of salty foods may put children at risk of hypertension, health experts have warned, urging parents to look beyond the salt added during cooking and pay closer attention to processed foods and seasonings in their children’s diets.
The experts explained that excessive sodium intake could cause the body to retain fluid, increasing the volume of blood circulating through the blood vessels and placing additional pressure on the walls of the blood vessels.
They noted that children may consume sodium from several everyday foods, including seasoning cubes, instant noodles, processed meats, crisps and packaged snacks, making it easy for parents to underestimate their overall sodium intake.
Speaking exclusively with PUNCH HealthWise, the Head of Paediatrics at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Katsina, and Consultant Paediatrician, Dr Abdurrazzaq Alege, explained that the body initially attempts to regulate excess sodium after a child consumes salty food.
He noted that the kidneys play an important role in removing excess sodium from the body and maintaining the appropriate balance of fluid and electrolytes.
According to the paediatrician, the major concern arises when excessive salt consumption becomes a regular habit.
“It’s not just a one-off thing. There’s a risk of developing high blood pressure,” he warned.
Alege explained that excess sodium could cause the body to retain more fluid, increasing the volume of fluid in the bloodstream and putting greater pressure on the blood vessels.
He added that the body initially responds by trying to restore the balance, including making the child thirsty so that more water is taken.
“Thirst is a response. It’s not actually a complication,” he clarified.
However, the paediatrician noted that these regulatory mechanisms could become less effective when excessive sodium intake continued over a prolonged period.
He warned that hypertension beginning in childhood could remain a problem later in life because the child may be exposed to elevated blood pressure for a longer period.
“If the high blood pressure begins in childhood, there is a great chance that the child will continue to have hypertension even later in adulthood,” Alege cautioned.
He linked prolonged hypertension with cardiovascular complications, including heart disease and atherosclerosis.
The paediatrician identified children already living with hypertension, kidney problems, congenital abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tract, certain heart conditions and some endocrine disorders as those who may require particular attention to their sodium intake.
Alege stressed that parents should not focus only on the salt they add while cooking, noting that sodium is also present in many processed and preserved foods.
He particularly cautioned against deliberately adding excessive salt to children’s meals because of the belief that it makes food more enjoyable.
“Salt is good, it is necessary for the body. But these children should not take it in excess,” he cautioned.
The paediatrician explained that children’s taste preferences could also be shaped by what they are regularly fed, making it important for parents to introduce them to less salty foods early.
He advised parents to reduce heavily salted and highly processed foods in their children’s diets and seek medical assessment if they have concerns about a child’s health or blood pressure.
The World Health Organisation recommends reducing sodium intake to help control blood pressure in children aged two to 15 years. It says the adult maximum of 2,000mg of sodium per day should be adjusted downward for children according to their energy requirements. WHO also identifies processed foods, snack foods and condiments such as bouillon or stock cubes as important sources of sodium.
The global health body further notes that children with elevated blood pressure are at increased risk of cardiovascular problems during childhood and of developing hypertension and cardiovascular diseases later in life.
The concern is also reflected in Nigerian research. A 2017 systematic review by Nigerian researcher, Chukwunonso E.C.C. Ejike, published in the Journal of Tropical Pediatrics, reviewed 30 studies and found that 5.1 per cent of Nigerian children and adolescents had hypertension, while 8.2 per cent had prehypertension.
Also speaking, Assistant Director of Dietetics at the Lagos State Health Service Commission, General Hospital, Badagry, Olusola Malomo, urged parents to pay closer attention to the different sources of sodium in their children’s diets.
Malomo explained that children’s sodium requirements vary according to age, stressing that they should not simply be fed according to adult dietary habits.
He identified seasoning cubes, instant noodles, processed meats, crisps, packaged snacks and other highly processed foods as items parents should monitor.
The dietitian noted that the problem could be overlooked when parents focused only on the salt added directly to meals.
He advised parents to reduce the amount of highly processed and heavily salted foods given to children and use natural ingredients to improve the flavour of their meals.
“Instead of all these processed foods, take natural foods,” he advised.
Malomo recommended that parents make instant noodles and packaged snacks occasional foods rather than daily staples, while encouraging them to check nutrition labels when buying processed products.
He stressed that salt should not be completely eliminated from children’s diets because sodium is necessary for normal body functions, but warned that children should not routinely consume excessive amounts.
“The body gets accustomed to what you feed it,” he noted.
The dietitian explained that repeatedly giving children heavily salted foods could make them accustomed to the taste, making it harder to reduce their preference for salty meals later.
He urged parents to gradually reduce the amount of salt and salty seasonings used in children’s meals rather than waiting until a child develops a health problem.
Malomo further advised parents to take children for appropriate medical checks, particularly when there are concerns about blood pressure or an underlying health condition, while encouraging families to make less processed foods and naturally prepared meals a regular part of children’s diets.
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