CDC Researchers Raise Concerns over Children’s Sodium Intake

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers recently
published a study finding that sodium intake among U.S. children and
adolescents “is positively associated” with systolic blood pressure (SBP) and
risk for pre-high blood pressure and high blood pressure (pre-HBP/HBP).
Quanhe Yang, et al., “Sodium Intake and Blood Pressure Among US Children
and Adolescents,” Pediatrics, October 2012. According to the study, which used
24-hour dietary recalls to estimate the sodium intake of 6,235 children ages
8-18 years, the subjects consumed an average of 3,387 milligrams of sodium
daily. The results also apparently indicated that the associations between
sodium intake and increased SBP and risk for pre-HBP/HBP “may be stronger”
among the 37 percent of participants who were overweight or obese than
among those who were not. While in normal-weight children every 1,000 mg
extra of sodium evidently corresponded with a one-point rise in SBP, in obese
or overweight children every 1,000 mg extra of sodium corresponded with a
1.5-point rise in SBP.

“The average sodium consumption among US children and adolescents aged
8 to 18 years is as high as that of adults,” concludes the study. “Evidence-based
interventions that help participants reduce their sodium intake, increase their
physical activity, and attain or maintain a healthy weight may help reduce the
greater than expected prevalence of HBP and other cardiovascular disease risk
factors among children and adolescents.”