The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that people consume less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day.  Specific groups, including persons with high blood pressure, all middle-aged and older adults and all blacks, should limit intake to 1500 mg per day.  These specific groups comprise nearly 70 percent of the U.S. adult population.  This study found that only 9.6 percent of all participants met their applicable dietary recommendation, including 5.5 percent of the group limited to 1,500 mg per day and 18.8 percent of the 2,300 mg per day group.

The report examined data for 2005 “2006 from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), an ongoing study that explores the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. Researchers used information from 24-hour dietary recall and the USDA National Nutrient Database to estimate the daily sodium intake and sources of sodium intake for U.S. adults.

The findings add to a growing body of observational research studies on Americans' excessive sodium consumption.  Over-consumption of sodium can have negative health effects, including increasing average levels of blood pressure.  One in three U.S. adults has high blood pressure, and an estimated 90 percent of U.S. adults will develop the disease in their lifetime.  Blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke, the first and third leading causes of death among adults in the United States.

SOURCE Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

www.cdc/salt