Project Summary: >> One of several studies from the American Heart Association on salt suggests that the majority of packaged meals marketed for toddlers contain more than the recommended amount of sodium per serving. Adriana Diaz reports. >> Shanna Muigai works hard to give her daughters healthy food. >> I read labels all the time. Yummy. >> But it's not easy. A new study finds nearly 75 percent of prepackaged meals and snacks for toddlers have too much salt. It's added as a preservative and for flavor. >> It is tough to avoid salt when you're in a store. It is. Because it's in everything. >> Researchers looked at the sodium in more than 1,000 foods for babies and toddlers. A product was considered high in salt if it had more than 210 milligrams of sodium per serving. Or 14 percent of the daily recommended allowance. >> The affect is probably cumulative over time. Where the longer you have that increased sodium level coming in, the more likely you'll end up with hypertension as an adult. >> A big concern is children who eat a high-sodium diet may develop a lifelong preference for salty foods. That's important because another study finds most adults eat more than double the recommended daily amount of sodium. The American Heart Association says adults should have less than 1500 milligrams of sodium per day. The average American consumes 3600 hundred milligrams. Researchers in a third study found that eating too much salt contributed to 2.3 million deaths worldwide in 2010 from heart-related diseases. Almost half were people 69 or younger. Shawna knows the risks and avoids prepackaged foods. >> I go straight to the vegetable aisle. That way when I'm preparing my food I know exactly what's going in it. And rice, mmm. >> A small step with big health benefits. ^E00:01:42 That's the transcript of the video above. Salt is everywhere in our food - for most of man kind salt was one of the limiting nutrients in many areas of the world. The first trade route was from the Middle East -- traders would pile salt on camels and take them to the mountains in Asia to trade for precious jewels. After watching the video and doing some independent research, submit a 1 page paper (or equivalent) on the health issues associated with excessive salt intake and how you would go about reducing sodium in the US food chain.