What is the significance of reduced sodium in your child's diet?

I had a mom ask me to explain the significance of reduced sodium in your child's diet. Here is what I found in Child Nutrition Basics By Vincent Iannelli, M.D.:

"Adults often know that they should avoid a lot of added salt in their diets, and in fact, are sometimes on salt restriction diets because of health problems, especially high blood pressure.

Eating salt is often thought to be less of a problem for kids though, as many parents assume that their kids don't have a lot of salt in their diets. This is only true if you don't add a lot of salt to the foods that you cook. Keep in mind that many of the processed and prepared foods that are popular with parents and kids -- usually because they are quick and easy -- are often loaded with salt.

Some of the Oscar Meyer Lunchables, for example, can have up to 1440mg of sodium per serving.

Why is monitoring your child's salt intake important? Some studies have reported that children with low-salt diets may avoid high blood pressure as adults. And maybe even more important, salt intake has been linked to childhood obesity, as kids with high-salt diets have been reported to drink a lot of high-sugar, high-calorie drinks, which increases their risk for obesity.

Most kids don't actually need a low-salt diet. Instead, they need a normal salt diet and to learn to avoid too many foods that are high in salt and to eat a healthy diet with a variety of foods. Although there is no specific recommended daily allowance for sodium in children, unlike the adult RDA of 2,400mg of sodium a day, a typical salt intake for kids would usually be up to about:

1000-1500mg for children 2-3 years of age
1200-1900mg for children 4-8 years of age
1500-2200mg for children 9-13 years of age
1500-2300mg for children 14-18 years of age

In general, if you simply don't add extra salt to the foods you prepare and your child eats and avoid a lot of the foods high in salt, then you shouldn't have to worry about your child's salt intake. Keep in mind that like adults, kids can develop a taste or preference for salty foods. That makes it important to avoid salty foods and not add extra salt to foods when your child first begins solids as an infant and toddler."