If you are out and about and are looking for a quick, healthy snack for your children, an orange and lemon wholegrain muffin may sound like a good option. If you are watching their salt intake, however, you would be better off giving them a bag of crisps. While a typical coffee shop muffin has 1.4g of salt, a 25g bag of crisps has 0.4g, a whole gram less.

That may not sound much, but when you consider that a child aged 4 to 6 should be having a maximum of 3g daily, it gives you a clearer perspective of the scale of the saving.

Obviously nobody is suggesting that we promote crisps to the “health food” status of, say, carrot sticks. However, according to the Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH), a group of scientific specialists concerned with salt and its effects on health, most children in the UK are probably wolfing down as much as, or even more than, adults daily.

A recent survey by Netmums,a local network for par-ents, shows that much of it comes from surprising sources. The amounts of salt that our offspring are eating are, it seems, creeping up on us almost by stealth.

Reducing salt relieves asthma symptoms

According to CASH, research has shown that reducing our children's salt intake by half leads to immediate falls in their blood pressure. The immediate benefits of such reductions of blood pressure in the young may quickly become apparent in those suffering with asthma, since high salt intakes have been shown to aggravate symptoms. Other benefits are less tangible and parents need to take a long-term preventive approach to their children's health.

For instance, a high salt intake can cause the mineral calcium to be lost from bones, leading to an increased risk of bone thinning, and thus fractures that take longer to heal. Given that many teenage girls in the UK do not get enough calcium, this could lead to problems from adolescence onwards and may well increase the risk of developing osteoporosis in later life.

Cancer and obesity

Comparisons between countries around the world also reveal a close link between the amount of salt eaten and the number of people who develop cancer of the stomach. High salt intake could even predispose children to a greater chance of piling on the pounds, since eating salty foods has been clinically linked to higher consumption of fizzy, calorie-rich drinks to quench thirst.

In addition to benefiting their health by lessening their chances of developing asthma, bone disease and stomach cancer, it will not come as much surprise to anyone that getting children used to lower salt intake and getting their blood pressure to fall during childhood has the knock-on effect of slashing their chances of suffering a stroke and heart disease in adulthood. Statistics suggest that reducing salt intake by about 2.5g a day can lower the risk of stroke and heart attack in later life by a quarter.

If you are thinking, “Oh no, I'm already trying to get their sugar down, not give them too many saturated fats and keep an eye on their weight,” then do not despair.

One problem with much of the nutritional advice given in this country is that it tends to be “nutrient specific”. In other words: “Here are ten top ways to lower fat”, “Five ways to substitute sugar”, and so on. Trusting your common sense is often all you need to achieve all the demands of “healthy eating” in one go - and this includes cutting back on salt. The general rule of thumb is: the less processed the food, the better, and the less fast the food, the better.

When cooking, go easy on salt, and, where possible, use herbs to season instead of salt. Make sure there is plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables on the menu so that you stock up on potassium, a mineral that helps adults and children to deal effectively with excreting salt.

For more information on Consensus Action on Salt and Health, visit www.actiononsalt.org.uk

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