Earlier this year, Andy wrote about the connection between climate change and kidney stones.  The NYTimes reported last week that doctors have seen a significant increase in the number of kids with kidney stones.  I agree (as do the experts) that kids are not the traditional kidney-stone demographic. The first group that pops into my mind when I think of kidney stones is middle aged men.

So why the rise in kids? One culprit seems to be salt which has found its way in increased levels in their diets through packaged foods such as chips, fries, soups, sandwich meats and sports drinks. Some experts also think this rise in kids kidney stones is partly a spill-over from the obesity epidemic. There are a lot of easy, healthy solutions to address this problem. First, start with the simple step of kids drinking more water. Yes, yummy, delicious plain water is really important, especially since kids don’t drink enough of it. And, reduce the amount of processed salty foods kids eat. takepart for some useful healthy eating tips and recipes for kids: