National Salt Awareness Week 2008 - Salt and Children
28th January to 3rd February 2008
Salt Awareness Week 2008 will focus on Salt and Children. Research has shown that reducing children's salt intake by half results in immediate falls in blood pressure, which in turn could lead to major reductions in the risk of developing stroke, heart attacks and heart failure later in life. It is well established that the higher the blood pressure in childhood, the higher the blood pressure in adulthood. Therefore, anything that lowers blood pressure in children is likely to reduce the number of people developing high blood pressure later in life. A high salt intake has also been linked to adverse effects such as: failure to reach peak bone mass predisposing to osteoporosis; aggravation of asthma; predisposition to stomach cancer; and it could also influence the development of obesity.
During the Week we will:
- publicise that children should eat even less salt than adults;
- show the large amounts of salt children could be consuming just through eating everyday foods (4.9g for 4-6 year olds which is 1.9g more than their recommended maximum upper limit of 3g);
- highlight where the salt comes from in children's diets;
- provide practical information to parents and carers on how to reduce the level of salt their children eat.
These messages are not currently being heavily promoted by the Food Standards Agency's (FSA) Salt Campaign and it is an important fact to remind parents. In fact, no other national campaign is currently dealing with this issue.
For the first time in 2008 17 other countires will be holding a Salt Awareness Week including Australia , Bangladesh , Sweden , Poland , Barbados , Georgia , Canada , Israel , Slovenia , Dem Republic Congo, Finland , Slovakia , Portugal , Turkey , US, India and Pakistan.
Supporting organisations include: the British Heart Foundation; Blood Pressure Association; the Food Standards Agency; Heart Research UK; the Irish Heart Foundation; MEND; the National Federation of Women's Institutes and the UK Public Health Association.
Thank you to our corporate supporters of the Week: Bodens; Brakes: Heinz; Marks and Spencer; McCain: Pizza Hut and Walkers who have all deomstrated a commitment to salt reduction.
"I have two daughters, now in their early twenties, and have always believed that I brought them up on a healthy diet, never adding salt to their meals. Recently however I have been horrified to learn just how much salt is hidden in food I assumed was salt-free and how much is being consumed, unknowingly, by very young children. What has scared me most is that the food culprits are not necessarily the obvious ones and that it's still extremely difficult for an ordinary , caring parent to get clear and honest information on added, hidden salt. I therefore have no hesitation in supporting this campaign." Trudie Goodwin, (Sergeant June Ackland, The Bill)
We have also provided resources to Health Care Professionals around the country so that they can hold their own supporting events in the local community.