Babies are not born with a love for salt, but they quickly develop a taste.
A new study has found when babies are given starchy foods usually high in salt, like crackers and bread, their tastes adapt to make them crave more salt later.
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition tested 61 infants at 2 months old by giving them salt water and monitoring their facial expressions.
Twenty-six of those babies were tested at 6 months, then 12 were tested at preschool age. The 12 children that had tasted salt before 6 months of age were more likely to eat plain salt.
Researchers were concerned about children's taste for processed foods, often high in sodium.