Usual sodium intakes compared with current dietary guidelines --- United States, 2005-2008

Abstract

High sodium intake can increase blood pressure and the risk for heart disease and stroke. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010, persons in the United States aged ≥2 years should limit daily sodium intake to <2,300 mg. Subpopulations that would benefit from further reducing sodium intake to 1,500 mg daily include 1) persons aged ≥51 years, 2) blacks, and 3) persons with hypertension, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease. To estimate the proportion of the U.S. population for whom the 1,500 mg recommendation applies and to assess the usual sodium intake for those persons, CDC and the National Institutes of Health used data for 2005-2008 from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). This report summarizes the results of that assessment, which determined that, although 47.6% of persons aged ≥2 years meet the criteria to limit their daily sodium intake to 1,500 mg, the usual daily sodium intake for 98.6% of those persons was >1,500 mg. Moreover, for 88.2% of the remaining U.S. population, daily sodium intake was greater than the recommended <2,300 mg. New population-based strategies and increased public health and private efforts will be needed to meet the Dietary Guidelines recommendations.