Americans Consume Too Much Salt

Americans Consume Too Much Salt.
Americans' be wild about of salt has continued unabated in the 21st century, putting multitude at risk for high blood pressure, the outstanding cause of heart attack and stroke, US health officials said Thursday. In 2010, more than 90 percent of US teenagers and adults consumed more than the recommended levels of wit - about the same edition as in 2003, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in Dec 2013. "Salt intake in the US has changed very inconsequential in the last decade," said CDC medical public servant and report co-author Dr Niu Tian. And despite a slight drop away in salt consumption among kids younger than 13, the researchers found 80 percent to 90 percent of kids still overcome more than the amount recommended by the Institute of Medicine.

And "There are many organizations that are focused on reducing dietary cured intake," said Dr Gregg Fonarow, a spokesman for the American Heart Association and a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. "More in operation efforts are needed if the popularity of excess dietary salt intake is to be reduced". The CDC has suggested coupling salt-reduction efforts with the do battle on obesity as a way to fight both problems at the same time.

New instruct food guidelines might also be warranted, the report suggested. Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at the NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, said reducing dietary pickled is required for both adults and children. "What is so distressing is that this report indicates that eight out of 10 kids grey 1 to 3 years old, and nine out of 10 over 4 years old, are eating too much pep and are at risk for high blood pressure. Most of this liveliness comes from processed foods and restaurant meals, not the salt shaker on the table.

That means it's in all probability that much of the food these children eat is fast food, junk food and processed food. "This translates into a high-salt, high-fat and high-sugar aliment that can lead to a number of serious health problems down the road. In addition, both intemperate and processed food alters taste expectations, chief to constant parental complaints that their kids won't eat anything but chicken nuggets and eager dogs.

It's the parents and caregivers who are in charge of the menus. "This begs the question: Why are you giving a 2-year-old these foods?" she said. Salt hides in many foods. "Salt is reach-me-down for texture, flavor enhancement and as a preservative, and does not inevitably taste salty. Some health advocates believe the solution to the salty problem lies in getting food companies and restaurants to reduce salt in their foods.

In 2010, the US Food and Drug Administration began working with the bread industry to voluntarily reduce brackish in processed foods. But two years later, little has been accomplished, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "Unfortunately, the grub industry has failed to significantly bring down sodium levels in spite of 40 years of governmental admonitions," Julie Greenstein, the center's deputy director of well-being promotion policy, said in a statement.

So "It's time for the FDA to step in and require inexpensive reductions". The problem is that there's scant evidence for determining exactly how much salt is too much and how unimaginative is too little, according to a recent Institute of Medicine report. "For now, the simple answer is to cook more at abode and eat more whole and less processed foods".

Checking food labels for sodium content is also vital, experts say. For the report, the CDC relied on evidence from a national survey involving almost 35000 people, conducted between 2003 and 2010. The size up found that most Americans still consume an mean of 3400 milligrams - about 1,5 teaspoons - of salt a day, according to the IOM.

The US Dietary Guidelines for Americans tout people 14 to 50 years old restrict their daily salt intake to 2300 mg. But that's still too much for about half of Americans, according to the guidelines. People over 50, blacks and relations with high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney plague should restrict salt intake to 1500 mg a day who's phil. The CDC despatch was published in the Dec 20, 2013 issue of the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.