Almost all American children are eating too much salt. 90% of children in the United States between ages 6 and 18 consume too much sodium daily. The high sodium intake has been positively linked to heart disease, high blood pressure.
Federal officials are blaming a high intake of sodium by Americans on the ballooning figures of ill health. A report by the U.S Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than 90% of American kids take too much salt.
The 90% of kids take in about 3,330 mg of sodium, which is already above the 2,300 mg recommended daily dose. The figures were drawn from a CDC survey carried out in 2009 and 2010.
The CDC noted that the high intake of sodium was responsible for the increase in high blood pressure patients in the country. Currently, one in every six Americans has high blood pressure. High blood pressure grows and can eventually lead to a stroke or a heart attack.
Where does all this sodium come from? Apparently, most of this sodium comes from processed foods, not from the salt shaker. 43 percent of sodium is contained in just 10 popular foods: cheese, salty snacks, chicken nuggets, pizza, sandwiches, cold cuts and cured meats, patties, pasta with sauce and burritos.
Dinner in itself was the largest contributor to the high sodium intake. 65% of sodium came from purchased foods in stores that were served for dinner in American homes.
Fast food restaurants took up 13% of the portion. Meals offered in the school cafeteria accounted for 9% of the sodium consumption.
CDC Director Tom Frieden said in his statement, "Reducing sodium intake will help our children avoid tragic and expensive health problems. In particular, processed foods should have less sodium."
Efforts are currently underway in Britain to reduce the sodium levels in processed foods by 15% in 7 years.
