Reduction of Salt Intake in Iran; Necessity and Strategies

Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) have become a major health problem not only in developedcountries but also in developing countries. Iran, as a developing nation undergoing epidemiologicaltransition, is facing a rapid increase in the burden of NCDs.There is overwhelming evidence that our current high-salt intake is the major factor increasingblood pressure (BP) and, thereby, a major cause of cardiovascular disease and kidney diseaseworldwide. At the United Nations High-level Meeting (the UN HLM) on the Prevention andControl of NCDs, salt reduction, as a tool to Prevent and reduce the burden of NCDs, receivedsupport by leaders. The World Health Organization (WHO) lists population salt reduction as one ofthe most cost-effective measures to improve public health and has set a 5 gram per day maximumtarget for salt intake.Changing the dietary salt content of a population that has adapted to a high sodium diet will notbe easy, and will entail a number of strategies. Specific Strategies and measures to reducepopulation-wide salt intake can be implemented as part of a national nutritional policy. Thesemeasures include:1. Sodium Restricted Diet2. Consumers’ awareness campaigns3. Salt labeling regulation and Development of symbols to identify low salt products4. The United Kingdom Strategy-Sodium Reduction by Stealth5. Food Industry Strategy (Reformulation)6. Monitoring sodium content of food.Our intake of excessive amounts of sodium has been linked to development of hypertension andsubsequent pathologies. It was agreed that population-wide salt reduction can be achieved mosteffectively through a multisectoral and mentioned strategies where all relevant stakeholders areactively engaged