National Salt Awareness Week 2008

28th January to 3rd February 2008

Salt Awareness Week 2008 will focus on Salt and Children. Research has shown that reducing children's salt intake by half results in immediate falls in blood pressure, which in turn could lead to major reductions in the risk of developing stroke, heart attacks and heart failure later in life. It is well established that the higher the blood pressure in childhood, the higher the blood pressure in adulthood. Therefore, anything that lowers blood pressure in children is likely to reduce the number of people developing high blood pressure later in life. A high salt intake has also been linked to adverse effects such as: failure to reach peak bone mass predisposing to osteoporosis; aggravation of asthma; predisposition to stomach cancer; and it could also influence the development of obesity.

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