Too much SALT delays puberty in children

Eating a diet high in salt can seriously delay puberty, according to new research.

A study found that those who have three to four times the amount of salt recommended for a daily basis had a significant delay in reaching puberty.

This could lead to reduced fertility and higher stress levels in these children, US researchers said.

They concluded the rising levels of salt in Western diets could have significant consequences for the reproductive health of future generations.

The findings, presented at the European Congress of Endocrinology, in Dublin, are the first of their kind.

As part of the study, the team studied how varying levels of dietary salt on the onset of puberty in rats.

They noticed that those with high salt diets – three to four times the daily amount recommended for humans - had delayed puberty, although they did not specify by how much. 

Interestingly, rats who had salt completely excluded from their diet also had delayed puberty.

The lead author Ms Dori Pitynski, of the University of Wyoming, concluded that salt intake is necessary for onset of puberty but that excesses can affect reproductive health.

To date, while work has been done on the effect of varying levels of dietary fats on puberty, nobody has yet looked at the effect of dietary salts.

Ms Pitynski said: 'Our work shows that high levels of fat and salt have opposite effects reproductive health.

'High fat diet is thought to accelerate the onset of puberty but our work demonstrates that rats fed a high salt diet even with a high fat diet will still show a delay in puberty onset.

'Our research highlights for the first time that the salt content of a diet has a more significant effect on reproductive health than the fat content.'

Recent guidelines from World Health Organisation state that populations around the world are consuming much more salt than is necessary.

Large numbers of people are consuming more than the recommended daily allowance of 5g of salt (around a teaspoon) per day for adults. 

Sodium is found naturally in a variety of foods, including milk, cream and eggs.

It is also found, in much higher amounts, in processed foods, such as bread, processed meats like bacon, snack foods and condiments. 

Investigations by campaign group Action on Salt has found that 75 per cent of pizzas they reviewed contained more than recommended daily allowance.

And bread is responsible for a fifth of daily salt intake, its research found.

One in four of the shop loaves the group reviewed contained as much salt in a single slice as a bag of crisps (around 0.5g), it revealed.

Ms Pitynski added: 'Current salt-loading in Western populations has the potential to drastically affect reproductive health, and warrants further attention.'

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