Parents warned of salt dangers

Parents in Staffordshire are being warned to be on the lookout for the hidden dangers in children's food this week. The county council is joining in with a national campaign to warn of the danger of high salt levels in processed foods.

As part of National Salt Awareness Week, libraries throughout the county will have information about the campaign. The aim is to make parents aware of how much salt their children are eating. Young children, aged from four to six, should eat no more than three grams of salt per day.

But a lot of foods aimed specifically at children contain high salt levels.

So parents are being advised to carefully check food labels to check their salt intake.

Councillor Carol Dean, Staffordshire County Council's cabinet member for safer and stronger communities, said: "We know that the effects of salt on our health start in childhood.

"Children who eat more salt have higher blood pressure than children who eat less salt.

"If nothing is done to lower their salt intake, this rise in blood pressure continues into adult life and increases the risk of developing strokes and heart attacks.

"Parents who want to give their children the best possible start in life need to make sure they are not letting them eat too much salt."

Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH), which runs National Salt Awareness Week, is working with the food industry and supermarkets to reduce the amount of salt that is added to our food.

Councillor Dean said: "Much has happened over the last few years, and there are many plans to reduce salt even further.

"But the message still needs to get across, especially to those people who buy a lot of readymade or processed foods, that a reduction in salt will bring real health benefits."