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Review
. 2019 Jun;21(6):710-721.
doi: 10.1111/jch.13546. Epub 2019 Apr 29.

The Science of Salt: Updating the evidence on global estimates of salt intake

Sudhir Raj Thout  1 , Joseph Alvin Santos  2 , Briar McKenzie  2 , Kathy Trieu  2 , Claire Johnson  2 , Rachael McLean  3 , JoAnne Arcand  4 , Norman R C Campbell  5 , Jacqui Webster  2
Affiliations
Review

The Science of Salt: Updating the evidence on global estimates of salt intake

Sudhir Raj Thout et al. J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2019 Jun.

Abstract

The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2010 study estimated national salt intake for 187 countries based on data available up to 2010. The purpose of this review was to identify studies that have measured salt intake in a nationally representative population using the 24-hour urine collection method since 2010, with a view to updating evidence on population salt intake globally. Studies published from January 2011 to September 2018 were searched for from MEDLINE, Scopus, and Embase databases using relevant terms. Studies that provided nationally representative estimates of salt intake among the healthy adult population based on the 24-hour urine collection were included. Measured salt intake was extracted and compared with the GBD estimates. Of the 115 identified studies assessed for eligibility, 13 studies were included: Four studies were from Europe, and one each from the United States, Canada, Benin, India, Samoa, Fiji, Barbados, Australia, and New Zealand. Mean daily salt intake ranged from 6.75 g/d in Barbados to 10.66 g/d in Portugal. Measured mean population salt intake in Italy, England, Canada, and Barbados was lower, and in Fiji, Samoa, and Benin was higher, in recent surveys compared to the GBD 2010 estimates. Despite global targets to reduce population salt intake, only 13 countries have published nationally representative salt intake data since the GBD 2010 study. In all countries, salt intake levels remain higher than the World Health Organization's recommendation, highlighting the need for additional global efforts to lower salt intake and monitor salt reduction strategies.

Keywords: evidence; global burden of disease; global targets; salt intake estimates; sodium.

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Conflict of interest statement

JW is the Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Population Salt Reduction and is supported by a National Heart Foundation Future Leaders Fellowship Level II (App: 102039). JW has funding from WHO, the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (Grant/Award Number: 20122) and the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia for research on salt reduction (Grant/Award Numbers: App: 1052555 and App: 1111457). KT is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia early career fellowship (App: 1161597) and the National Heart Foundation of Australia Postdoctoral Fellowship (Award ID 102140). NRCC was a paid consultant to the Novartis Foundation (2016‐2017) to support their programme to improve hypertension control in low‐ to middle‐income countries which includes travel support for site visits and a contract to develop a survey. NRCC has provided paid consultative advice on accurate blood pressure assessment to Midway Corporation (2017) and is an unpaid member of World Action on Salt and Health (WASH). Of the studies reviewed, JW, KT, and JS were an author on Johnson C et al (2017), Pillay A et al (2017), Santos JA et al (2017), and Trieu K et al (2018). ST, JS, BM, KT, CJ, RM, and JA have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Studies included in current review, January 2011–September 2018
Figure 2
Figure 2
Graph by income
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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