Comment: The salt, deadly food habit of China

LONDON: The Chinese use salt to prepare and preserve food for thousands of years.

But consuming a lot of salt increases blood pressure, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Cardiovascular diseases, which include heart attacks and strokes, now account for 40% of deaths in China.

It is well known that salt consumption in China is high, but accurate badessments are rare. Public health experts need reliable estimates of salt intake to help them develop strategies to reduce this consumption.

An example of a promising strategy is to replace ordinary salt with potbadium salt, which contains less sodium (which raises blood pressure) and more potbadium (which lowers blood pressure).

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The most accurate way to measure salt intake is to measure sodium excreted in the urine over a 24-hour period. Although this data was collected in China, it has never been comprehensively reviewed.

Our latest review, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, aimed to fill this gap in knowledge.

By searching the English and Chinese databases of all published studies of sodium or potbadium urinary excretion for 24 hours in China, we found 70 sources of sodium data (derived from 26,700 participants), 59 of which were also potbadium. (among more than 24,700 participants).

The data covered four decades and covered most of China's provinces.

Of all the reviews of salt consumption in China, our review is the first to be systematic and is by far the most important.

ADMISSION TO HIGH SALT AND LOW POTASSIUM

Our meta-badysis of the combined data revealed significant patterns of salt and potbadium consumption in China. For example, we found that, on average, children and adolescents exceeded the salt limit for adults.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that adults consume less than 5 g of salt per day and this upper limit should be reduced for children and adolescents according to their energy needs.

In China, however, children aged three to six consume an average of five grams of salt a day. The WHO recommendation has been largely overtaken by children and adolescents aged six to 16 years old.

Their average intake was disturbing at 8.7 grams per day.

In adults, the average salt intake was 10.9 g per day, which is more than twice the maximum recommendation set by the WHO and one of the highest salt intake in the world.

Our review also showed geographical differences between North and South China.

Salt consumption in northern China has declined over the last four decades, which may be the result of government efforts to raise salt awareness and improve the availability of fresh produce throughout the year.

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Yet, despite this decline, the average salt intake among adults in northern China remains high at 11.2 g per day.

On the other hand, salt consumption in southern China has increased over the same period, which could be explained by the increased consumption of processed products, restaurant and take-home meals, which are generally high in salt. .

Finally, we also found that potbadium intake was less than half of the recommendation. Potbadium intake has always been low throughout China over the last 40 years, with people in all age groups consuming less than half of the recommended minimum doses.

IMPROVE MATERIALS

One-fifth of the world's population living in China, a reduction in salt consumption and an increase in potbadium consumption in the country would be extremely beneficial to the health of the world.

Replacing ordinary salt with potbadium salt can help achieve this goal. Unlike western countries, where most of the salt comes from processed foods, most of the salt consumed in China comes from salt added during cooking.

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Potbadium salt can be used in the same way as ordinary salt and would have the added benefit of increasing people's potbadium intake.

Starting early in life can also help. Childhood and adolescence are formed when eating habits and taste preferences are formed.

If a child eats more salt, he will develop a taste for salt and be more likely to eat more salt in adulthood. In addition, high blood pressure in the child continues until adulthood.

Anticipation of new sources of salt consumption can reduce its consumption.

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There is a rapid increase in the consumption of processed foods and food from street markets, restaurants and fast food chains in China.

Setting maximum targets for their salt content would create an even playing field where salt is generally reduced, which would help the population to get used to a less salty taste.

Monique Tan is a PhD student at Queen Mary University in London and has expertise in nutrition and international health. A version of this comment appeared for the first time in The Conversation. Read it here.