Babies Fed Salty Foods Like Salt as Preschoolers - NYTimes.com

New research shows that infants who are exposed to foods with high amounts of sodium are more likely to develop an affinity for salt later on in life than infants who are not fed as much salt. In the study, which was published in the latest issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and funded by the National Institutes of Health, infants whose parents fed them starchy table foods like crackers and breakfast cereals, which typically contain added salt, were more likely to gravitate to salty foods by the time they reached preschool.

“Our data would suggest that if one wants to reduce salt in the population as a whole, then it’s important to start early because infants and children are very vulnerable,” said Dr. Gary Beauchamp, an author of the paper and behavioral biologist at the Monell Center in Philadelphia, a nonprofit institute that carries out research on taste and smell. “Exactly what constitutes too much salt is somewhat of a matter of controversy. But for kids over the age of 1 and 2, what they’re consuming now is well beyond what is recommended by every major health organization in the world.”

via well.blogs.nytimes.com