A toddler can easily exceed twice their recommended daily average intake of sodium by lunch time, which is 400mgs sodium for children aged 1 – 3 years.

*Please note the mgs of sodium per item can vary from brand to brand.

TIPS TO REDUCE YOUR SALT INTAKE

Become aware of the salt content in the foods you consume.  For example, salt content in both wholemeal and white bread is often similar.  Buying fresh from a bakery is no guarantee of low salt content, bakeries often use more salt than you might find in other store-bought breads to improve the flavour of their product.

Invest in a bread maker; only purchase low-salt ingredients for the dough.

Avoid Take-away foods.  Some burgers can deliver 100%+ of your recommended daily average intake of sodium.

Choose products with ‘No Added Salt’ over being ‘Salt-Reduced’.  ‘Salt-Reduced’ generally means the product contains approximately 75% of the salt you would find added to the regular version of the same product.  If the added salt content of the regular version is high to begin with, reducing this by one quarter is not necessarily going to make the ‘Salt-Reduced’ version particularly low in salt.

When reading product labels remember any Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) values that may be quoted are usually based on the dietary requirements of adults, not children.

Explore the wonderful range of herbs and spices readily available to most Australians to flavour your food, instead of using salt.  Variety is the spice of life.

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REFERENCES
⁽¹⁾ Food Standards Australia Fact Sheet; How much sodium and salt are we eating? (2009) – http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/scienceandeducation/factsheets/factsheets2009/howmuchsodiumandsalt4340.cfm
⁽²⁾ Australian National Health and Medical Research Council publication; Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand, including recommended dietary intakes. (2005) – http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/file/publications/synopses/n35.pdf
⁽³⁾ Australian National Health and Medical Research Council publication; Dietary Guidelines for Australian Adults. (2003) – http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/file/publications/synopses/n33.pdf
FURTHER INTERESTING READING
Food Standards Australia Fact Sheet; How much sodium and salt are we eating – further information. (2009) – http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/scienceandeducation/factsheets/factsheets2009/howmuchsaltandsodium4551.cfm
Australian National Health and Medical Research Council publication; Food for health.  Dietary guidelines for Australians, a guide to healthy eating. (2005) – http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/file/publications/synopses/n31.pdf
University of California, San Francisco Children’s Hospital; Patient Education Guidelines for a Low Sodium Diet – http://www.ucsfhealth.org/adult/edu/lowSodiumDiet.html
faqs.org; Sodium imbalance – http://www.faqs.org/health/topics/4/Sodium-imbalance.html
Australian Division of World Action on Salt & Health – www.awash.org.au/cons_saltandchildren.html
Anne Collins Weight Loss Diet Program Online; Sodium in your diet. – http://www.annecollins.com/sodium-diet.htm