Children who eat starchy foods with large amounts of salt (crackers, soft breads, cereals) as an infant are more likely to exhibit a preference for salt later on; therefore, a new study suggests salt intake should be reduced beginning early in life, according to Shari Roan, reporting in the LA Times.
Researchers believe there may be a "sensitivity window" in which exposure to certain foods and tastes programs the brain for future eating habits.
As a result, parents may be unknowingly programming their babies preference for salt by giving them foods that do not "taste" salty but do, in fact, contain a lot of salt.
Researchers, led by Leslie Stein Ph.D., at left, a physiological psychologist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center (an independent nonprofit research institute based in Philadelphia), compared reactions of 61 babies tasting salty water at 2 months old and then at 6 months old; at 2 months old the babies showed indifference in their facial expressions but by 6 months were able to distinguish between the water, a mild salty solution (1%) and one slightly stronger (2%). They recorded how much fluid they drank from each bottle during a one-minute period — an indication of how much they preferred each solution.
A correlation was found between those babies who drank more of the salty solution and the amount of exposure to "table food" (regular food that the family might eat); the babies who has eaten table food (26--almost half) consumed 55% more salty solution than babies with no exposure.
As a follow-up, the children's eating habits were surveyed again at the age of 5; those who preferred the salty water at 6 months exhibited a preference for salt in their food (e.g., licking the salt off crackers).
The study will appear in January's American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
This is the salt content of some popular baby "table food" (taken from the LA Times Booster Shots blog by Jeannine Stein:
1 Cup Cheerios: 160 milligrams
Quaker oatmeal: 260 milligrams
5 saltine crackers: 190 milligrams
1 slice of Wonderbread: 190 milligrams
Gerber Graduates Lil' Crunchies (18 pieces): 50 milligrams
Though there are no federal guidelines, the Institute of Medicine recommends no more than 160 milligrams daily for babies under 6 months, and 370 milligrams for babies 6 months to 1 year.
Written for California's Children by Elizabeth J Carlyle.
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