Children are on the brink of a salt overdose.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention 6,200 children between the ages of eight and 18 were asked to talk about their food intake from the previous day. The question revealed that on average many of the kids were eating around 3300 milligrams of salt per day, about a thousand more milligrams than both adults AND children should consume daily.
This increase in salt intake is causing kids to be hampered with an elevated heart rate, prehypertension, and high blood pressure. In fact 15% of those surveyed had elevated blood pressure, an ailment regarded in obese adults.
Dr. Frederick Kaskel, Chief of Pediatric Nephrology at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in New York, expressed his concerns, “Our American diet clearly is very high in sodium. Not only is the high sodium something to be avoided, but it is also indicative of an unhealthy diet.”
Efforts to fight this growing trend of unhealthy diets have been faced with some opposition.
Mayor Bloomberg’s soda ban caused a stir among consumers and even the First Lady’s “Let’s Move,” campaign lead to heated debates.
What do you think are some things we can do to combat this growing epidemic?