Wednesday, October 29, 2008

And speaking of kidney stones...

...the NY Times also reports that A Rise in Kidney Stones Is Seen in U.S. Children. From the article:

To the great surprise of parents, kidney stones, once considered a disorder of middle age, are now showing up in children as young as 5 or 6.

The increase in the United States is attributed to a host of factors, including a food additive that is both legal and ubiquitous: salt.

“What we’ve really seen is an increase in the salt load in children’s diet,” said Dr. Bruce L. Slaughenhoupt, co-director of pediatric urology and of the pediatric kidney stone clinic at the University of Wisconsin. He and other experts mentioned not just salty chips and French fries, but also processed foods like sandwich meats; canned soups; packaged meals; and even sports drinks like Gatorade, which are so popular among schoolchildren they are now sold in child-friendly juice boxes.

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