THURSDAY, Oct. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly half of all Americans should limit their sodium intake for the sake of their health, but less than 2 percent of those who meet the criteria for sodium limitation actually do so, and most Americans ingest too much sodium, according to research published in the Oct. 21 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Catherine M. Loria, Ph.D., of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., and colleagues used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for the period 2005 to 2008 to estimate what proportion of the U.S. population should be limiting their daily sodium intake to 1,500 mg of sodium and how much sodium those individuals are actually consuming.
The researchers determined that 47.6 percent of the U.S. population meets the criteria for limiting their sodium intake (e.g., aged 51 or older; black race; having diabetes, hypertension, or chronic kidney disease), but more than 98 percent of those individuals have a typical daily sodium intake in excess of 1,500 mg. Furthermore, 88.2 percent of those not directed to restrict their sodium intake consume more than the recommended <2,300 mg per day.
"New population-based strategies and increased public health and private efforts will be needed to meet the Dietary Guidelines recommendations," the authors write.
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