Change in mean salt intake: 24-h urine versus overnight and spot urine samples
Published in the Nutrition Journal on 6th December 2020, Santos et al conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the estimates of change in mean population salt intake based on 24-h urine and overnight/spot urine samples. From 14 studies, the pooled mean change in salt intake was − 0.43 g/day (95% CI − 1.16 […]
The association between sodium and blood pressure is influenced by methods of evaluating the completeness of 24-h urine collections
Published in Nutrients on 11 September 2020, Abu Mohd Naser et al investigated whether different methods of evaluating the completeness of 24-h urine samples influences the association between sodium intake and health outcomes. A secondary analysis of three cohort studies from Bangladesh was conducted using cross-sectional sodium intake and blood pressure measures across several visits […]
Effectiveness of the Victorian Salt Reduction Partnership’s media advocacy activities
Published in the Nutrition Journal on 16 September 2020, Rosewarne et al evaluated the Victorian Salt Reduction Partnership’s media advocacy activities by determining the extent to which activities contributed to the overall strategy aims and the effectiveness of the activities in gaining media and industry engagement. Guided by Stead et al’s framework for evaluating media […]
A three-part blog series on Australia’s new food reformulation targets
The George Institute’s PhD candidates, Emalie Rosewarne and Daisy Coyle have published a three-part blog series on Australia’s new food reformulation targets. Topics explored include: how the reformulation program could be better-aligned with international best-practice, how the reformulation targets need to be improved to have a meaningful impact, and the steps the Government needs to […]
Identifying sodium intake using dietary behaviours
Published in PLoS One on 15 September 2020, Okada and Takimoto conducted a cross-sectional analysis to develop a brief screening method for determining sodium intake in order to raise public awareness of Dietary Reference Intakes in Japan. Self-administered questionnaires from one-day dietary records by a semi-weighed method within the 2015 National Health and Nutrition Survey […]
Spot urine samples should not be used to examine sodium‐disease relationships
Published in the Journal of Clinical Hypertension on 10 September 2020, Peterson et al. conducted a systematic review on the use of spot urine samples to examine sodium-disease relationships. As part of the Science of Salt series of regularly updated reviews, this study critically appraised relevant studies from November 2018 to August 2019. Only two […]
High sodium and low potassium intakes in Kazakhstan using 24-h urinary sodium excretion
Published in the European Journal of Nutrition, Trieu et al analysed the data from two cross sectional surveys that collected 24-h urine samples from participants aged 25-64 years to estimate mean sodium and potassium intake and describe dietary knowledge and behaviour among adults in two different regions of Kazakhstan. The study found the weighted mean […]
Salt reduction initiatives in Africa: A systematic review
Published in the Journal of Clinical Hypertension, Tekle et al conducted a systematic review to document salt consumption patterns, the implementation status and potential impact of salt reduction initiatives in Africa. From 38 studies included, the review found that the mean estimated salt intake in African adults ranged from 6.8 g/day to 11.3 g/day. Salt […]
Potassium-enriched salt substitutes nationwide in China are estimated to have significant population health benefits
Published in the British Medical Journal, Markland et al used comparative risk assessment models to estimate the effects of nationwide replacement of discretionary salt with a potassium-enriched salt substitute on morbidity and death from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in adults living in China. Additionally, a separate model was conducted to estimate harms related to salt substitute […]
The effectiveness and feasibility of taxes on salt and foods high in sodium: what’s the evidence?
Published in Advances in Nutrition, Dodd et al conducted a systematic review to investigate the effectiveness and feasibility of salt taxation as a policy measure to improve population health. The review searched peer-reviewed and grey literature published between January 2009 and October 2019. A total of 18 relevant studies were reviewed, consisting of modelling (n=8), […]