Paediatrics Publications

Title

Dietary intake of sodium by children: Why it matters

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-6-2020

Journal

Paediatrics and Child Health (Canada)

Volume

25

Issue

1

First Page

47

Last Page

61

URL with Digital Object Identifier

10.1093/pch/pxz153

Abstract

Dietary sodium is required in very small amounts to support circulating blood volume and blood pressure (BP). Available nutritional surveillance data suggest that most Canadian children consume sodium in excess of their dietary requirements. Approximately 80% of the sodium Canadians consume comes from processed and packaged foods. High sodium intakes in children may be an indicator of poor diet quality. Results from systematic reviews and meta-analyses have demonstrated that decreasing dietary sodium in children leads to small but clinically insignificant decreases in BP. However, population-level strategies to reduce sodium consumption, such as food product reformulation, modifying food procurement processes, and federal healthy eating policies, are important public health initiatives that can produce meaningful reductions in sodium consumption and help to prevent chronic disease in adulthood.

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