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It is important that children, adolescents, pregnant women (in the last two trimesters) and breast feeding mothers consume 600 ml of milk a day to supply the extra calcium needed for growth. As a result, the salt content of their diet may be higher than that of others following a low salt diet but can still be lower than average. Is best to start your child on a salt reduced eating pattern. Breast milk has a much lower sodium content than cow’s milk and is much more suited to baby’s needs. When introducing solids, be careful not to add any salt to the baby’s food and generally avoid feeding baby heavily sugared or heavily salted foods. Adolescents, especially, have very high-energy demands as they are growing so rapidly and seem to be hungry most of the time. It is important to meet these energy requirements with extra foods which are not highly sugared or highly salted and do not contain a large percentage of fat. Make sure there is a good supply of fresh fruit, dried fruit, vegetables, nuts and salt free biscuits to satisfy their hunger. Fruit and most vegetables contain insignificant amount of sodium and are abundant sources of potassium, fibre and vitamins. Increasing the potassium content of the diet is thought to have a beneficial effect on blood pressure, so it is recommended that consumption of fruit and vegetables be increased. It is true that some vegetables like spinach contain significant amounts of sodium. However, they also have a very high content of potassium and their sodium content is much lower than most processed foods. It’s wise to have at least three serves of vegetables and three serves of fruit daily. Remember the best snacks and desserts are fresh fruit.
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