Kids eat too much salt and it's raising their blood pressure, CDC study finds

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(CBS/AP) American kids eat about 1,000 milligrams of salt more than they should each day - just like adults, a new government study finds. That's about the sodium equivalent of a Big Mac.

The study of U.S. children also shows that the extra salt is tied to an added risk for higher blood pressure, especially in kids who are overweight and obese.

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The new findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were published online in the Sept. 17 issue of Pediatrics.

Previous research has shown similar results in adults but studies on salt, weight and blood pressure are uncommon in children.

For the study, researchers at the CDC looked at data on 6,200 kids aged 8 to 18 involved in 2003-08 national health surveys. The children were asked twice over several days to detail all foods they'd eaten the previous day; the researchers calculated salt intake from their answers.

The researchers found that overall, 15 percent had either high blood pressure or slightly elevated blood pressure called prehypertension.

Those who ate the most salt faced double the risk of having elevated blood pressure, compared with those who ate few salty foods. Thirty-seven percent of the kids in the study were considered overweight or obese. Among them, the risk for high blood pressure was more than triple.

The recommended daily salt or sodium intake for kids and adults is no more than 1 teaspoon daily, or about 2,300 milligrams. On average, study kids ate nearly 3,400 milligrams daily. Male children were more likely to consume more salt than female children.

CDC researcher Quanhe Yang says it's unclear why heavier kids would be more sensitive to salt but it could be due to obesity-related hormone changes. The results raise concerns because studies have shown that elevated blood pressure in childhood, even just prehypertension, can lead to full-fledged high blood pressure in adulthood and potentially premature heart disease.

Prehypertension and high blood pressure in children younger than 17 depend on age, height and gender.

In those 18 and up, readings between 120 over 80 and 140 over 90 are prehypertension; 140 over 90 and higher is high blood pressure.

Earlier this year, a CDC study named the 10 biggest culprits for dietary sodium in the U.S. diet, foods such as salty snacks and pizza, with some surprises at the top of the list.

To reduce salt intake - and risk for heart disease and stroke - the CDC recommends eating a diet rich in fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables without sauce. Processed and restaurant foods contain the most salt, the CDC says, so be sure to check nutrition facts for information or request lower-sodium options when eating out.

The CDC has more on reducing salt intake.

[SergioStagnaro]

Firstly, as Founder of Single Patient Based Medicine Theory (I-8), In every patient, with or without Pre-Metabolic and Metabolic Syndrome, with or without type 2 DM (9, 10), physician has to pay attention to insulin target tissues, and salt sensitivity.
Secondly, I emphasise the relation between type 2 diabetes mellitus, involved by Pre-Metabolic and Metabolic Syndrome, and Hypertension (9, 10).
Finally, Quantum Biophysical Semeiotics allows doctor to bedside recognize easily, rapidly, and in reliable way, both salt sensitivity, and insulin activity in the liver, skeletal muscle, and adipose tissue particularly by direct action, bedside assessing structure and flow-motion along microcirculatory bed (1-4) (http://www.semeioticabiofisica.it, http://www.sisbq.org).
For instance, doctor can ascertain if insulin inhibits hepatic glucose production (HGP) as well as if a patient is or not sensitive to salt (not all individuals are salt sensitive!), with the aid of a clinical method, which proved to be reliable.
In health, in the post-absorptive state, glucose hepatic out-put is high (= large liver interstitium, evaluated as Liver-"in toto" Ureteral Reflex; the first above-mentioned website, Technical Page N° 5), and glycaemia is in normal range (5, 11).
However, the insulin secretion acute pick test (= transitory jatrogenetic increasing of endogenous insulin, caused by mean-intense stimulation, cutaneous, prolonged pintching, of related trigger-points (= VI thoracic dermatomere, practically, the skin about 2 cm. below costal arch, right or left), brings about significant reduction of glucose liver secretion (= liver small interstitium, See above) and blood glucose results transitory reduced (1-5).
In addition, notoriously not all individuals involved by Metabolic Syndrome are hypertensive and diabetic. In fact, only subjects showing natriuretic peptides activity alteration may become hypertensive, and only individuals involved by DM Constitution-Dependent Inherited Real Risk can suffer from DM(ibidem).
Interestingly, in salt-resistant healthy individuals, showing salt normal metabolism, after administration of a glass of salt water (= 1 little spoon of salt in a glass of water), kidney microcirculation appears rapidly, significantly activated, persisting only 10 minutes, according to the type I, associated (= in the kidny, small arteries and arterioles, according to Hammersen, as well as capillaries oscillate intensively, evaluated as upper and respectively lower ureterals reflexes (http://www.semeioticabiofisica.it/semeioticabiofisica/Documenti/Eng/BNP%20engl.doc ) (3, 8).
On the contrary, in "salt-sensitive" human, either diabetics or not, such as activation result significantly less intense and more prolonged than normally.
At this point, I emphasise the existence of Hypertensive Constitution (HC), as well as HC-dependent Inherited Real Risk, analogously with all other numerous inherited risk factor: diabetic, osteoporotic, oncological , a.s.o. (4, 6, 11).
As regards, microcirculatory remodelling, e.g., in skeletal muscle, we recognize the presence of microcirculatory remodelling, characterized by newborn-pathological, type I, subtype b), Endoarteriolar Blocking Devices, we observe in Lagherans's islets (3).

References on request.

[CarleneAltom]

I wish people would stop treating childhood obesity as epidemic and a disease, when in fact in MOST cases it's not a disease but a symptom of abuse. Very rarely is is caused by anything other then Caregivers allowing high calorie foods mixed with lack of activity! Would a parent think twice of what they allow their child to eat if they were viewed as food abusers if their 5 year old was overweight and they are at a restaurant? It's an abuse issue that is at at epidemic. I just wrote about this this morning:

Crack or Mac..is there a difference?If you saw a parent give crack cocaine to their 8-year-old child, or put vodka and tonic in their baby's bottle, would you intervene? You know it is unhealthy and can lead to a life long list of complications and even death; no one in society would frown upon you for trying to stop it, they would even call you a hero.

Now what if you saw an overweight child at McDonalds eating a Big Mac, French fries and washing it down with a soft drink? You know it is unhealthy and can lead to a life long list of complications and even death. Would you be frowned upon for trying to stop it, would you be called a hero?

We look down on those whose babies are born addicted to drugs or alcohol. We are angry because they put their child at risk and through no choice of their own, their children can end up with life long list of disabilities and complications.
It's hard enough as adults when we pick and choose the wrong life style then struggle with the consequences of those decisions; it's abuse when it is done to us.

Do you consider the caregiver of an over weight child a child abuser? We speak openly about the health risk, we argue what is served on the lunch menus in our schools....we have even gone to lengths as to ban super sized soft drinks in New York! I am not saying a caregiver does not love their child, but are they showing it in a healthy way?
Mental abuse leaves emotional scars, physical abuse leaves physical scars and food abuse leaves both....so is it the ultimate form of childhood abuse?