Centers for Disease Control Vital Signs on Sodium

10.02.2012 20:24

Centers for Disease Control Vital Signs on Sodium

The newest edition of CDC Vital Signs focuses on excessive sodium in the American diet and the top 10 types of foods most responsible for it.

In honor of February as Heart Month in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has released an issue of their monthly Vital Signs report focused on sodium. Excessive sodium intake can increase risk for high blood pressure and lead to a greater risk of developing heart disease and stroke. The CDC reports that over 90% of Americans have too much sodium in their diet.

Additional key points of the CDC Vital Signs report on sodium include:

· 44% of the sodium eaten in the US comes from just 10 types of foods.

· 65% of sodium eaten in the US comes from foods sold in grocery stores.

· 25% of sodium eaten in the US comes from foods served in restaurants.

· 800,000 people die each year in the US from heart disease, stroke and other vascular diseases.

The majority of salt consumed is “hidden” in processed and packaged foods. Therefore, salt reduction is not simply about telling people to reduce the amount of table salt they use. Other measures, including multi-sectoral partnerships that work with governments, NGOs, food manufacturers and restaurants are key to effectively reducing salt intake.

Overconsumption of sodium is of global concern. Due to its impact on cardiovascular health, the World Heart Federation was happy to see the goal of reducing mean population intake of salt to less than 5 grams per day by 2025 included within the World Health Organization's proposed targets for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).