Parents - Are your kids eating too much salt?

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High blood pressure in children is not as rare as you might think. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has found that about 5% of children have blood pressure that's higher than normal. Less than 1% of children have blood pressure that's high enough to be classified as medically significant, but whenever a child's blood pressure is higher than normal, it's cause for concern. Those children face a much higher risk of developing dangerously high blood pressure as they Age.

One of the most important factors for high blood pressure for people of any age is too much salt. The salt should be used very sparingly and in many cases not at all.

What can parents do?

The fastest and most effective change you can do is stop your son serve food. Most of the sodium in our diet comes from processed foods. For example, if you a box of macaroni cheese and strength, 580 milligrams of sodium you served.Weigh that against the recommended daily allowance of sodium for adults, 1500-2400 mg of adaptation, then your child's age and size. On the other hand, the use of a bag of pre-shredded cheddar cheese, macaroni and cheese base to jump - the salt was not necessary - it's time to take, if the same amount of luck, but the% of sodium reduction of 25! Even better, with low milk cheese and healthy alternative to butter and served with salad with a little helpFill the stomach of the child.

Macaroni and cheese is not the only meal that comes from a box. If you have tried to be a sort of packaged meals, at least take a moment to check the nutritional information provided. to my work, do it before deciding if you really want to bring this food to your home. Once at home, do it, and your child eat it. But if the nutrition information in the store and read you will see that some moreSodium that your child should eat in a day, most likely window shelf and look back to healthy alternatives. Soon you can skip all packaged food aisle.

To be honest, healthy cooking does not require more than the compilation of pre-packaged food. A kitchen tool that I recommend is a steamer. You can use a few frozen chicken breasts in the steamer basket with the vegetables, turn the ship, shooting, and then walk. IndicateChildren swim and when you're done, cooked dinner. Sprinkle on some salt-free seasonings, if the meal is ready. Nothing easier than that.

fast-food restaurants are known for the use of packaged foods, and as with all foods, they are heavily laden with salt. Limit your trips to a fast food restaurant more than once a month. If you need to eat more often than this, choose a local restaurant where the food is freshly prepared.

Want to learn moreon healthy eating for children?

A good start is HealthyChildren.org, has developed a Web site of AAP, to inform parents about any health problems that teach your children. And 'your responsibility to educate your children, and the first step is to educate yourself.