Salt Awareness & Weaning week
It’s weaning week in the UK and it happens to be also salt awareness week this year. I have decided to combined the two topics in one blog as they fit perfectly with each other.
We are all aware that high salt intake in our diets can increase the risk of high blood pressure which can in turns increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Recommendations:
Adults:
No more than 6g of salt a day (around 1 level teaspoon). This include salt already in the food and salt added to the food during and after cooking.
Children:
11 years old and over: no more than 6g (around 1 teaspoon)
7 to 10 years old: no more than 5g
4 to 6 years old: no more than 3g
1 to 3 years old: no more than 2g
Under 1 year old: less than 1g
Babies should not have more than 1g of salt per day as their kidneys are not developed and therefore cannot process it. Moreover, having salt in their diet can increase taste and preferences for salty foods later in life.
Weaning and salt awareness
When we start weaning our babies it is so important to not add salt while cooking and/or after cooking as well as try to cook from scratch.
Salt can be, indeed, hidden in many food products available on the market such as pasta sauces, ready made meals, bread, crackers, breakfast cereals, processed meats, olives, cheese, sauces such as ketchup and mayonnaise, stock cubes and gravy, marmite and butter, crisps, smoked meat and fish.
Tips to reduce salt intake in your/ your baby’s diet:
Check labels, some foods are particularly have high/moderate amount of salt (see above);
Avoid adding salt to your babies food and this also applies when you are cooking;
Try to use herbs, spices, HAVE FUN!
Cook at home whenever it is possible;
If shopping choose low salt or no added salt options, aim for <0.3g salt/ 100g when offering foods for babies as a low salt option;
If you child has had a high salt meals, DO NOT PANIC, balance it out with no/low salt options throughout the day;
Bear in mind that if your child has a high salt meal once in a while it’s okay;
If at restaurants you could ask to not add salt to your baby’s food;
Canned food could also have salt in it, this includes beans, chickpeas, lentils, peas, tomato sauce. Try to go for a no-salt option or rinse the content very well under tap water;
Make your own stock cubes at home as they can have quite a bit of salt in it.
If you struggle and you don’t know if your little one is consuming too much salt