Comparison of Salt Intake in Children to that of their Parents

Abstract

Background: High salt intake has been related to increased blood pressure and cardiovascular events. Few studies evaluated daily salt consumption in children. Objective: To compare urinary sodium (UNa) excretion in children to that of their parents using the gold standard of 24-h collections. Methods: We prospectively collected 633 urine samples, mean UNa = 133 ± 37 mmol/day (7.7 ± 2.1 g of salt) from 326 children aged 10–15 years and 94 urine samples, mean UNa = 136 ± 45 mmol/day (8.0 ± 2.6 g of salt), from 78 parents. Comparisons between sodium intake were made by analysis of variance. Results: We paired 24-h urine samples of 65 children, UNa = 134 ± 36 mmol/day, (7.9 ± 2.3 g of salt) to 75 corresponding parents, UNa = 136 ± 45 mmol/day (8.0 ± 2.6 g of salt). Within parents, 50 were mothers, UNa = 138 ± 49 mmol/day (8.1 ± 2.9 g of salt) and 25 were fathers, UNa = 116 ± 41 mmol/day (6.8 ± 2.4 g of salt). Sodium excretion did not differ between boys vs. girls and mothers vs. fathers. Salt intake of children was not different from that of mothers (n = 50; 7.9 ± 2.3 vs. 8.1 ± 2. 8 g/24 h, p = 0.515) but higher than that of fathers (n = 25; 8.0 ± 2.3 vs. 6.8 ± 2.4 g/24 h, p < 0.05). Only 9.2% of children and 30.8% of the parents had a salt intake below 5 g/24 h. Around 60% of the children had a salt intake higher than their parents. Parental educational level was not associated with differences in salt consumption in children and parents. Overall, parents and children UNa excretion showed a moderate positive and significant correlation (r = 0.45, p = 0.001). Conclusions: In 91% of children aged 10–15 years, daily salt intake was higher than recommended. Also, children’s salt consumption was closer to that of their mothers than that of their fathers, -possibly because of closeness in dietary habits with their mothers.