Programs to reduce salt intake would only be effective if they included all levels of society, according to the results ofa study published in the medical journal Cochrane Library. Indeed, it is necessary to reach manufacturers so that they modify the composition of their products and consumers so that they change the way they eat and adopt good habits.
Excess salt intake is a risk factor forhypertension, of heart disease, and D’stroke. Currently, the consumption of dietary sodium, in almost all countries, is too high and represents a heavy economic and health burden.
Many states around the world have implemented population-level dietary sodium reduction initiatives. To date, no scientific review has examined the impact of these initiatives.
Experts from the Cochrane Public Health Group in the United States carried out a meta-analysis of 881 studies on the methods used by governments and health authorities to reduce the salt intake of inhabitants in order to understand their effectiveness.
The authors selected 15 national initiatives involving a total of 260,000 participants, then 10 involving a total of 64,798 participants, sufficiently qualified to observe that:
5 studies resulted in decreases in average daily salt intake per person ranging from 1.15 grams/day less (Finland) to 0.35 grams/day less (Ireland),
The scientists also noted that 2 initiatives favored, on the contrary, an increase in salt consumption (Canada (1.66) and Switzerland (0.80 grams/day more per person)) and that the majority of reduction programs salt did not show a statistically significant change.
Salt consumption reduction programs involving all stakeholders
The experts noted that among 7 of the 10 initiatives that integrated several stages, from food production, to distribution (schools, colleges) and food consumption, 4 were satisfactory and showed a significant average reduction in salt consumption.
Implementation of future initiatives should incorporate more effective means of assessment to help better understand the variation in effects on salt intake.
“General population interventions for dietary sodium reduction have the potential to lead to population-wide consumption reductions on one condition, integrating all relevant stages and actors in the food chain. . However, the wide variation in the results between the different studies calls for further research, but reveals the insufficiency of assessment, post-initiative or intervention, in Public Health”, conclude the researchers of the study.
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