DALLAS — Kids who load up on salty meals and snacks get thirsty and too often turn to calorie-filled sodas. So cutting back on the salt may be a good way to cut the calories.
That’s the idea coming from a British study out Wednesday in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Salt is “a hidden factor in the obesity epidemic,” said Graham MacGregor, a co-author of the study by researchers at St. George’s University of London.
And researchers say all that salt isn’t coming from the salt shaker: About 80 percent comes from packaged food.
“Most people think that sodium comes from the salt shaker. The salt shaker contributes less than 10 to 15 percent,” said Dr. Myron Weinberger, a professor of medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine.
“Fast foods, for example, are just loaded with sodium. Processed foods are all very high in sodium,” said Weinberger, who wrote a related Hypertension editorial.
Not only could less salt translate to fewer soft drinks and therefore fewer calories, but a modest reduction in salt has been shown to lower blood pressure. High blood pressure raises the risk of later-in-life heart attack and stroke.
The study was based on diet data from Great Britain’s National Diet and Nutrition Survey. Researchers looked at 1,688 British boys and girls — ages 4 to 18 — over a seven-day period in 1997.
The Associated Press
