Toddlers’ Meals, Snacks Found To Be Loaded With Sodium

U.S. Centers for Disease Control scientists who tested 1,115 packaged meals and snacks for babies and toddlers found that almost three fourths of toddler foods had more than 210 mg of sodium per serving. Toddler meals tended to have much more salt per serving than baby foods: some had as much as 630 mg of sodium per serving. That’s about 40 percent of the daily amount recommended by the American Heart Association. The researchers said the less salt in a baby’s or toddler’s diet, the less they are likely to want in their foods as they grow older. Studies have shown that consuming excessive amounts of sodium is associated with the development of high blood pressure.