The use of salt begins at one year of age
One-year-olds are already starting to eat adult food. Pediatricians agree that one should be careful with salty foods for children because children’s organisms are still sensitive to the negative effects of sodium from salt.
Salt emphasizes the taste of any food. Salt is also the main supplier of sodium or a substance necessary for the human body. Sodium is low in other natural products. The work of all cells in the body without exception, the transmission of nerve impulses and muscle contractions – depends on sodium. All body fluids, including blood, contain sodium. Sodium is involved in maintaining water balance in the body and regulating the flow of water to and from cells. Sodium is needed to digest hydrochloric acid in gastric juice. Sodium is therefore essential for humans. A child’s body is more vulnerable than an adult’s. A smaller child finds it harder to maintain sodium balance in the body due to an immature urinary system. It is especially difficult for a child to deal with excess sodium in the body. The effort for the kidneys increases and the intensity of metabolic processes. That is why food is given to children under the age of one without any salt. Children as young as one year old have enough salt that is already naturally found in food to meet the nutritional needs of this important mineral.
Salt is given to a child from one year of age
A child usually starts eating with adults at the age of one. Then the amount of salt in the child’s diet suddenly increases. The child’s body is still sensitive to the negative effects of sodium. That is why a one-year-old child does not switch to adult nutrition. Therefore, adults should slowly accustom one-year-olds and older children to a proper diet. According to statistics, most people use salt to taste an average of 10 to 15 grams per day. That is three times the allowed amount of salt. In many foods, salt is already very present (sausages, cheeses, mayonnaise, ketchup, etc.). Salted fish and similar foods are not recommended in the diet of children in the first two or three years of life. Canned salty foods are also not suitable for children.
Children up to 10 months need 0.2 grams of salt per day. The norm is increased to 0.35 grams of salt per day for children between 10 and 12 months of age. For children over one year of age, the norm of salt is 0.5 grams per day. On average, the body needs the following amount of salt: 0.5 grams of salt per 10 kg of body weight. In practice, at an early age of 1 to 3 years of age, food needs to be additionally salted (if we exclude the average content of natural salt from foods) very little so that the adult still finds that food unsalted.