High salt consumption among adolescents ‘creates health risks later in life’

The high salt consumption among many adolescents could be putting them at an increased risk of health problems later in life, a new study has revealed.

Conducted at the Georgia Regents University, the research revealed most adolescents consume as much salt as adults, with some eating more than twice the recommended daily allowance. Among 766 healthy teens, 97 percent self-reported exceeding the American Heart Association's recommendation of less than 1,500 milligrams of sodium daily.

This puts them at an elevated risk of obesity later in life, as well as inflammatory conditions such as lupus and arthritis. This correlation was observed regardless of patients' calorie consumption habits.

Longitudinal or randomised clinical trials are needed to clarify the relationships between these factors, according to the researchers.

Dr Haidong Zhu, molecular geneticist at the Medical College of Georgia and Institute of Public and Preventive Health at Georgia Regents University, said: "We hope these findings will reinforce for parents and paediatricians alike that daily decisions about how much salt children consume can set the stage for fatness, chronic inflammation and a host of associated diseases."

The NHS warns that many people in the UK currently consume too much salt, often without realising it. 75 percent of the salt people eat is already in everyday foods such as bread, breakfast cereal and ready meals.