How much salt should children have?
Recommended maximum salt intakes for children
| Age 0-6 months 6-12 months 1-3 years 4-6 years 7-10 years 11 years and above |
Maximum Salt Intake <1g / day 1g / day 2g / day 3g / day 5g / day 6g / day |
When cooking for children of all ages do not add salt to their food and
discourage them from adding salt at the table. Habits formed in childhood continue
through to adulthood so give your children a good start by reducing their salt intake today
Babies
Babies only need very small amounts of
salt, and their kidneys are too immature to
cope with any added salt. Therefore salt
should never be added to any food that
is cooked for your baby. Breast milk
naturally meets all of a baby’s
nutritional requirements,
including a tiny amount of
salt, and infant formula is
specially formulated to
contain the right amount
of salt. It is always
important to make up
formula milk correctly to
the manufacturers
instructions.
Weaning
During weaning, no salt
should be added to any
foods. Weaning products do
not have any added salt and
on tasting them you may find they taste
bland, but do not add any salt. If you are
making your own weaning foods do not
add any salt during preparation and limit
the amount of high salt foods such as
cheese, ham and sausages. Avoid using
processed foods that are not made
specifically for babies such as cooking
sauces and adult breakfast cereals as
these can be high in added salt.
Children
Once your child is eating the same foods
as the rest of the family it is important to
continue not adding any salt to their
food. This will also benefit the rest of the
family! It is at this point that children’s
salt intake tends to increase
dramatically due to eating higher salt
foods.
Homemade meals cooked
using fresh ingredients are
naturally lower in salt than
convenience meals and
processed food. Limit foods
that are high in salt, and
always check nutritional
information, even on products
aimed at children, and choose
those with less salt. A low salt diet
throughout childhood will help
prevent children developing a taste
for salty foods and reduce the
likelihood of them eating a diet high in
salt during adulthood.
Teenagers
Teenagers should be warned to limit their
consumption of salty savoury and sweet
snacks such as crisps, chips, supermarket
bought biscuits and cake slices; and takeaway
foods such as chicken nuggets,
pizza and burgers which can greatly
increase their salt intake.