According to the latest research at the University of Haifa , low birth weight babies born with low sodium (salt) in their blood serum are likely to consume large quantities of dietary sodium later in life. Taken together with other recent findings, this information confirms that very low serum sodium in pre-term and new born infants may be a significant contributing factor for long-term sodium intake.
The researchers reported that dietary sodium consumption in childhood (ages 8-15) was predicted by neonatal lowest serum sodium (NLS). The children with the most severe NLS serum sodium ate double the number of salty snacks and their dietary sodium intake was substantially higher than their peers. It was as if they were trying to make up for their previous history of salt deprivation. There was no relationship found between NLS and a preference for salt per se, but rather for the foods that contained salt.
This work provides a good deal of food for thought regarding our innate preference and requirements for salt and should give expectant mothers and parents of newborns pause to think before they severely limit their child's salt intake.
As with everything else in life, balance is the byword.
