Complying with the WHO-recommended levels of sodium intake could avert three lakh deaths due to heart and chronic kidney disease in 10 years, a modelling study by the World Health Organization has estimated. High levels of sodium -- an ingredient of salt -- are one of the main dietary risks of death and disability. Packaged foods are a major source of sodium intake in high-income countries, and increasingly becoming so in low- and middle-income countries.
However, researchers, including those from The George Institute for Global Health, Hyderabad, said that India has no national strategy for sodium reduction despite people consuming double the recommended intake and increasing amounts of packaged foods. The WHO recommends under two grams of sodium a day, which is roughly the same as less than a teaspoon or five grams of salt a day. Published in The Lancet Public Health journal, the results suggested substantial health gains and cost savings within the first ten years of compliance, including averting 17 lakh cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks and strokes, and seven lakh new chronic kidney disease cases, along with savings of USD 800 million.
The authors said that the results from the modelling make a strong case for India to mandate the implementation of WHO's sodium benchmarks, especially as people are increasingly consuming packaged food. Slashing sodium intake in the population by 30 per cent by 2025 is one of nine global targets recommended by WHO for the preven.