Low Sodium Diet at College

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Son will begin college in the fall and is concerned about how to remain on a low sodium diet in the cafeterias and dining halls. He has a chronic kidney disease (FSGS diagnosed just over 2 years ago) and controlling sodium intake is one area he can impact. He does a great job with it - reads nutrition labels, has an app to check restaurant info before we go out to eat, etc. and I’m glad we’ve had 2 years to learn how to do it.</p>

<p>As we’ve toured many colleges and eaten in their dining halls, there are many options for gluten-free, low-fat, vegan, etc. but nothing really low-sodium specific. Some colleges have specific healthy-eating dining halls where all nutrition info is available to help make choices, but not all places offer this feature.</p>

<p>Any suggestions on how to help him learn to deal with this? He is nervous about it and concerned about fast food, pizza, etc. His goal is 1500 mg sodium per day, but up to 2000 mg is acceptable. Should he/we contact dining services at the college?</p>

<p>Thanks for your help.</p>

2

<p>I’d contact dining services. Is he going to a school with a really good dining hall? From college tours, I have the impression that some places would be much more adept at delicious and healthy/low-sodium food than others. Dining services should be able to provide nutritional info though.</p>

<p>That sounds like a diet that would be tough to follow any time that you’re not cooking for yourself. Good luck to your son.</p>

3

<p>Some dining hall operators list their nutritional info online with their weekly menus. I would contact dining services directly and ask. I’m sure your son already knows to avoid obviously high sodium food, like prepared foods and junk foods. My D’s cafeteria has a large variety of vegetarian, vegan, local organic, options that are probably lower in sodium, but I would ask to make sure.</p>