Behaviour change interventions to reduce population salt intake

Trieu et al at the George Institute for Global Health conducted a systematic review to evaluate the effectiveness of population-level behaviour change interventions to reduce salt intake, published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity in February 2017.

The review found that 19 of 22 studies reported that health education or awareness campaigns significantly improved salt-related behaviours or reduced salt intake based on any method of measurement (e.g. 24-hour urine, spot urine, dietary survey etc). However, an analysis of the higher quality studies found that only half (5 of 10) demonstrated a significant reduction or improvement in salt behaviour based on the more objective outcome assessment method.

In line with previous reviews, it is recommended that behaviour change interventions are implemented alongside structural interventions such as food reformulation, healthy food procurement or fiscal policies, to ensure the targeted 30% reduction in mean population salt intake is achieved.

For more information, read the study here.