16 to 22 March
[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"405904","attributes":{"class":"media-image","id":"1","style":"float: left; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 3px;;;;","typeof":"foaf:Image"}}]]The focus of World Salt Awareness Week for 2015 is on salt and children.
Like adults, children consume more salt than the maximum recommendation. Simple measures need to be taken to help reduce salt intake and therefore reduce the number of people suffering from cardiovascular disease.
Children are considered a vulnerable group in society often with little influence on or involvement in what they eat. Evidence suggests that dietary habits in childhood and adolescence also influence eating patterns in later life. Liking salt and salty foods is a learned taste preference and so it is vital that children do not develop a taste for salt in the first place. Further to this, a high salt intake in children can influence blood pressure and may predispose a child to the development of a number of diseases including: high blood pressure, osteoporosis, respiratory illnesses such as asthma, stomach cancer and obesity.
Source: World Action on Salt and Health
