Kids who load up on salty meals and snacks get thirsty, and too often they turn to calorie-filled sodas. So maybe cutting back on the salt is a good way to cut the calories.

That is the idea coming from a British study published Wednesday in an American Heart Association journal.

Salt is "a hidden factor in the obesity epidemic," said Graham MacGregor, a co-author of the study by researchers at St. George's University of London.

And researchers say all that salt is not coming from the salt shaker: About 80 percent comes from manufactured food.

"Most people think that sodium comes from the salt shaker. The salt shaker contributes less than 10 to 15 percent," said Dr. Myron Weinberger, a professor of medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine.

"Fast foods, for example, are just loaded with sodium. Processed foods are all very high in sodium," said Weinberger, who wrote an editorial related to the study published in the online journal Hypertension.

Benefits go on
Not only could less salt translate to fewer soft drinks and therefore fewer calories, but a modest reduction in salt has already been shown to lower blood pressure, which increases the risk of later-in-life heart attack and stroke, researchers say.

Also, several studies have shown a link between sugary soft drinks and obesity in children.

Reducing salt in manufactured foods can be done gradually, without the public even noticing, said Dr. Feng He, lead author of the study and cardiovascular research fellow at St. George's. She said a 10 to 20 percent reduction in salt is not even detectable.

"It's important for the food industry to make a reduction," she said.The study suggested that cutting in half the amount of salt British children consume — a decrease of about half a teaspoon a day — would lead to an average reduction of about 18 ounces of sugar-sweetened soft drinks per week.

The study was based on diet data from Great Britain's National Diet and Nutrition Survey. Researchers looked at 1,688 British boys and girls — ages 4 to 18 — over a seven-day period in 1997.

They noted that the amount of salt eaten might be underestimated in the study because it did not include salt added during cooking or at the table. The researchers also found that more than half the fluids drunk by the children were soft drinks, and more than half of those were sugar-sweetened.

The United Kingdom began a government-led campaign to cut salt consumption in 1996 and researchers say more recent studies show that salt intake has already decreased.

Proposal to cut back on salt
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration is taking public comment until March 28 on a consumer group's proposal to restrict the amount of salt in processed foods, among other options. And the American Medical Association has urged the government to require strong labeling of high-salt foods because if salt's connection to high blood pressure and heart problems.

MacGregor said that parents should look at food labels. And they should make sure children eat more fresh fruits and vegetables without adding salt, which stimulates the brain to want more fluid.

"Thirst is one of the most basic instincts. When you get thirsty, you have to drink," MacGregor said.

大量食用過咸的肉類和快餐的兒童口渴時，經常飲用熱值高的蘇打飲料。這一情況可能改變人們對鹽能夠降低人體攝入熱量看法。

本周三出版的《美國心臟協會雜志》上登載了英國科學家對上述問題的研究報道。

英國喬治大學的研究人員，此項研究報道的作者之一，格雷安。麥克格雷戈說：“鹽是導致肥胖病的一種隱藏誘因”。

研究人員稱所有引起肥胖的食鹽并非來自餐桌上的可搖式鹽瓶，其80%來自加工好的食物。

美國印第安納大學醫學院教授邁隆。溫博格博士說：“盡管多數人以為過量的鹽來自餐桌上的鹽瓶，但是餐桌上的鹽瓶對肥胖病的貢獻占10-15%”。

溫博格博士在互聯網高血壓雜志上撰寫的一篇評論中提到：“舉個例子，快餐中含有大量的食鹽，加工好的食品中鹽含量也非常高。”

持續受益

研究人員稱，少量攝入食鹽不僅可以少喝飲料，從而減少熱量的攝入。人們已經證明適當地減少鹽的攝入會降低人體的血壓，血壓升高會引起老年心臟病或中風。

多項研究表明兒童肥胖與大量飲用含糖的飲料有關。

圣喬治大學心血管疾病研究員、負責本項研究馮禾博士說，可以在公眾不關注的情況下，將加工好的食品中的鹽量逐漸減少。人們很難察覺食品中少加了10-20%的鹽。

她說：“減少食品中鹽的量非常重要。”該項研究建議將英國兒童的鹽攝入量減半---即每天減少半匙，這樣每周即可少喝18盎司的含糖飲料。

本項研究數據源于英國國內飲食營養調查的相關數據。調查人員對1688名年齡在4-18歲的男女在1997年七天為一周期的數據進行了分析。

他們注意到研究中食鹽攝入的總量可能被低估，因為烹調過程中和餐桌上加入的鹽未計入其中。他們還發現兒童飲用的液體一半以上是飲料，超過半數以上的飲料是含糖的飲料。

1996年英國政府掀發起了一場減少攝入的行動，研究人員稱多項研究證明鹽的攝入量已經下降。

削減鹽攝入量的建議

美國國家食品藥物管理局正在收集備選方案中針對消費者群體提出的限制食品加工過程的鹽的加入量公眾建議。美國醫學會要求政府責令高鹽食品標有意易識別標簽，因為攝入食鹽過多會誘發高血壓和心臟病。

麥克格雷戈說兒童的父母應該認真閱讀食品標簽，確保孩子吃到沒有加鹽的新鮮水果和蔬菜，攝入鹽多會口渴，從而需補充更多的液體。口渴是人的本能，只要口渴，便想喝。