Do most adults eat too much salt? According to research presented at
the American Heart Association's Nutrition, Physical Activity and
Metabolism and Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention 2013
Scientific Sessions, the answer is an overwhelming "Yes."
Evidence presented at the seminars showed that 75 percent of the
world's population are consuming almost twice the daily recommended
amount of sodium.
In 2010, sodium intake from commercially-prepared food, soy sauce,
table salt and salt added during cooking averaged nearly 4,000
milligrams a day globally.
The World Health Organization (WHO) advises limiting sodium to less
than 2,000 milligrams a day. The American Heart Association recommends
people limit their sodium intake even more, to less than 1,500
milligrams daily.
Lead author of the study Saman Fahimi, M.D. said, "This study is the
first time that information about sodium intake by country, age and
gender is available. We hope our findings will influence national
governments to develop public health interventions to lower sodium."
Cardiovascular disease has become the number one cause of death in the
world. Excess sodium consumption raises a person's blood pressure, with
high blood pressure being one of the major contributors to the
development of cardiovascular disease.
Average sodium intake exceeded healthy levels in both women and men in
nearly all countries, the researchers said. The highest sodium intake
was in Kazakhstan with 6,000 milligrams per day, closely followed by
Mauritius and Uzbekistan with slightly less than that daily amount.
The lowest average intakes were found in Kenya and Malawi with average
sodium consumption of 2,000 milligrams per day. Average intake in the
U.S. was about 3,600 milligrams daily.
Representing 99 percent of the world's population, 181 of the world's
187 countries were evaluated in the study and found to exceed WHO's
recommended sodium intake of 2,000 milligrams per day. Only Kenya
stayed lower than the American Heart Association's recommended sodium
intake of less than 1,500 milligrams per day.
The sodium intake of adults from 247 surveys was used for the
research. The studies took place between 1990 and 2010 as part of the
2010 Global Burden of Diseases Study, an international collaborative by
488 scientists from 303 institutions in 50 countries around the world.
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