Paediatric and nutrition experts urge parents to watch sodium hidden in seasoning cubes, noodles, snacks and processed foods

For parents in Nigeria, the familiar practice of adding salt and seasoning to children’s meals could have consequences beyond taste. On Saturday, Consultant Paediatrician Dr Abdurrazzaq Alege of the Federal Teaching Hospital, Katsina, and Olusola Malomo, Assistant Director of Dietetics at the Lagos State Health Service Commission’s General Hospital, Badagry, warned that regular exposure to excessive sodium from salty foods could increase children’s risk of high blood pressure.

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The experts stressed that the concern extends beyond the salt added during cooking. Seasoning cubes, instant noodles, processed meats, crisps and packaged snacks can also contribute substantial amounts of sodium to a child’s diet.

Alege explained that the kidneys normally help the body remove excess sodium and maintain the right balance of fluids and electrolytes. However, the problem becomes more significant when high sodium consumption becomes a regular habit.

“It’s not just a one-off thing. There’s a risk of developing high blood pressure,” Alege warned.

Excess sodium can cause the body to retain more fluid, increasing the volume of blood circulating through the blood vessels and placing greater pressure on their walls. The body initially attempts to compensate, including by triggering thirst, but prolonged excessive intake can put greater strain on its regulatory mechanisms.

Alege said hypertension that begins during childhood could have consequences well into adulthood because prolonged exposure to elevated blood pressure increases the opportunity for complications.

“If the high blood pressure begins in childhood, there is a great chance that the child will continue to have hypertension even later in adulthood,” he cautioned.

The warning is significant in Nigeria, where evidence suggests that elevated blood pressure among children and adolescents is not uncommon.

A 2017 systematic review by Nigerian researcher Chukwunonso E.C.C. Ejike examined 30 studies and found a pooled prevalence of 5.1 per cent for hypertension and 8.2 per cent for prehypertension among Nigerian children and adolescents in studies using age, height and sex-based blood pressure thresholds.

The findings do not mean that salty foods are responsible for all childhood hypertension. Genetics, obesity, kidney disease, endocrine disorders, congenital conditions and other factors can contribute to elevated blood pressure.

Alege particularly identified children already living with hypertension, kidney problems, congenital abnormalities of the kidneys and urinary tract, certain heart conditions and some endocrine disorders as groups requiring closer attention to sodium intake.

Hidden sodium raises concern

For many families, reducing the amount of table salt used at home may appear to be the simplest solution.

The experts, however, said parents should also consider what children eat between meals.

The World Health Organisation recommends reducing sodium intake to control blood pressure among children aged two to 15 years.

WHO says the adult maximum of 2,000mg of sodium a day should be adjusted downwards for children according to their energy requirements.

WHO also identifies processed foods, salty snacks and condiments such as bouillon or stock cubes as important sources of sodium.

Its broader healthy-diet guidance notes that sodium can enter diets through processed meats, snacks, bread and foods prepared with stock cubes or other high-sodium condiments.

That makes foods such as instant noodles, processed meats, crisps and packaged snacks particularly relevant when assessing a child’s overall intake.

Malomo urged parents to pay attention to nutrition labels when purchasing processed products and to avoid making heavily processed foods a daily feature of children’s diets.

“Instead of all these processed foods, take natural foods,” he advised.

He recommended that foods such as instant noodles and packaged snacks be treated as occasional choices rather than everyday staples.

The dietitian also cautioned against assuming that children can simply follow adult eating patterns. Sodium requirements vary with age, meaning that children should not automatically be given the same quantities of salt and salty seasonings as adults.

Building healthier tastes early

The experts said parents also have an opportunity to shape children’s preferences from an early age.

Repeated exposure to heavily salted meals can make a strong preference for salty flavours familiar, potentially making later reductions more difficult.

Malomo therefore advised families to gradually reduce the amount of salt and seasoning used in meals rather than waiting until a child develops a health concern.

“The body gets accustomed to what you feed it,” he noted.

The advice is consistent with WHO’s broader position that dietary habits established during childhood and adolescence can continue into adulthood. WHO recommends diets built largely around minimally processed and unprocessed foods, with foods high in sodium limited.

WHO has also developed global sodium benchmarks covering 70 food subcategories to encourage reformulation and help countries reduce sodium exposure through manufactured foods. (World Health Organization)

The global health agency’s latest salt-reduction efforts underline the scale of the problem. In May 2026, WHO said excessive sodium consumption remained a major global health threat, with processed and packaged foods contributing to high exposure in many populations. (World Health Organization)

A balanced approach to salt

Despite the warnings, the experts did not advocate completely eliminating salt from children’s diets.

Sodium is an essential nutrient involved in normal body functions. The concern is excessive and sustained consumption, particularly when several high-sodium foods are eaten throughout the day.

For parents, this means looking at the entire diet rather than focusing solely on the salt shaker. A child’s breakfast, school snack, lunch, instant noodles, processed meat and evening meal can collectively determine how much sodium is consumed.

Alege and Malomo therefore encouraged parents to favour fresh and minimally processed foods, reduce heavily salted meals, limit processed snacks and check product labels where available.

They also advised parents to seek medical assessment when a child has concerns such as known kidney or heart problems, or when there are concerns about blood pressure.

The broader message is one of prevention rather than alarm. Reducing excessive sodium early can help children develop healthier eating habits while potentially lowering their long-term exposure to a major risk factor for hypertension.

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For Nigerian families, the most meaningful change may therefore be a simple one: less reliance on salty and highly processed foods, and greater attention to what goes into a child’s plate beyond the salt added at the stove.