AHA Work on Sodium Reduction In June 2013, the American Heart Association brought together nearly 130 multi-sector stakeholders via a two day Sodium Conference. Attendees discussed the status and future implications of reducing sodium in the food supply and identified opportunities for collaboration. The report of the Conference proceedings, entitled “Stakeholder Discussion to Reduce Population-Wide Sodium Intake and Decrease Sodium in the Food Supply” was recently published in Circulation and may be found here: http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/early/2014/05/05/CIR.0000000000000051.full.pdf+html. A video of American Heart Association President-Elect discussing the Sodium Conference may be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iam3doKv7Lc.
In addition, an AHA-coauthored paper recently published in the journal Nutrition Reviews describes how standards for improving food-and-beverage environments can create healthier worksites, reviews national model standards, and identifies common elements across standards that are important considerations when working in this area. The paper, entitled “Food-and-Beverage Environment and Procurement Policies for Healthier Work Environments” may be found here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nure.12116/full. A CDC document providing an overview of many available resources related to food procurement and food service guidelines may be found here: http://www.cdc.gov/salt/pdfs/salt_procurement_resources.pdf.
Estimated Urinary Sodium Excretion Has Increased Over the Past 20 Years, New Study Finds
A new paper published in the Journal of Nutrition, entitled “Urine Sodium Excretion Increased Slightly among U.S. Adults between 1988 and 2010,”assessed 1988–2010 trends in estimated 24-hour urine sodium (24hUNa) excretion among U.S. adults ages 20–59 years, using measured sodium concentrations in spot urine samples. Results indicate that estimated 24hUNa excretion increased over the 20-year study period, which may be due to a shift in the distribution of BMI, according to study authors.
The study may be found here: http://jn.nutrition.org/content/144/5/698. A resource document summarizing current science on using biomarker data to estimate population sodium intake may be found here: http://www.cdc.gov/salt/pdfs/sodium_reduction_biomarkers.pdf.
New Resources for Reducing Sodium in Older Adults
A recent webinar, entitled Million Hearts® for Millions of Meals: Reducing Sodium in Home Delivered and Congregate Meals, highlightedtheimportance of sodium reduction in meals served to older adults, discussed meeting national recommendations for sodium intake in home delivered and congregate meals, and featured a case study on successful implementation of sodium reduction strategies in the Meals on Wheels program. A discussion around working with food distributors on sodium reduction was also included. The webinar may be found here: http://nutritionandaging.org/professional-developement/momentum-51064/topic-guide-million-hearts-for-millions-of-meals-reducing-sodium-in-home-delivered-and-congregate-meals.
Related, two new resources were recently made available on www.cdc.gov/salt. The first, a Tips sheet entitled “Savor the Flavor with Less Sodium” can assist older adults and their caregivers with reducing sodium in the diet both through home cooking and when dining out, and may be found here: http://www.cdc.gov/salt/pdfs/sodium_tips_older_adults.pdf. The second, entitled “Online Resources for Reducing Sodium in Congregate and Home Delivered Meals” provides resources for reducing sodium in meals served for older adults, such as the Meals on Wheels Program and congregate meal services, and may be found here: http://www.cdc.gov/salt/pdfs/sodium_resources_older_adults.pdf.