Children’s high salt intake causing health problems

The Heart and Stroke Foundation of South Africa (HSFSA)  is calling on parents to try and limit their children’s salt intake with at least one in 10 children in South Africa already diagnosed with high blood pressure.

The HSF said they are seeing this shocking trend largely as a result of the unhealthy foods we feed our children.

An unhealthy lifestyle, which includes a diet high in salt, is the main cause of high blood pressure.

In South Africa one out of three individuals over the age of 15 suffers from high blood pressure, with the number of people affected steadily increasing year on year.

Foods high in salt such as crisps, fried chips or pies are often bought at school tuck shops and vendors.

Recent research has shown that one out of 3 adolescents eat fast foods two to three times a week and these junk food options typically contain high levels of salt.

Dr Vash Mungal-Singh, CEO of the HSFSA said children  are particularly vulnerable to the unhealthy environment as they often have very little influence on or involvement in food purchases and what gets prepared at home.

“Children are often targets for the advertising of unhealthy snacks, high in added sugar, salt and unhealthy fats,” he said.

“We all know that children are extremely impressionable and the world over they are being marketed at extensively, using a wide range of clever techniques.”

Dietary habits in childhood and adolescence also influence eating patterns in later life.