Most of Vietnamese people have been eating too much salt, nearly double the World Health Organisation (WHO)-recommend level of 5g per day, heard a workshop in Hanoi on March 27 (Illustrative photo: VNA) people have been eating too much salt, nearly double the World Health
Organisation (WHO)-recommend level of 5g per day, heard a workshop in Hanoi on
March 27.
At the workshop, Truong Dinh Bac,
Deputy Director of the General Department of Preventative Medicine – the
organiser of the event, said the high amount of results in an increase
in the rate of people with high blood pressure and heart diseases.
A national survey carried out in
2015 showed that a Vietnamese adult consumed an average of 9.4g of salt a day.
Statistics also revealed that
currently, one in every five adults in suffers from high blood pressure
and one in every three deaths is caused by heart diseases, particularly stroke.
Bac said salt made up a large
part of daily cooking and cuisine of Vietnamese, while salt intake in advanced
countries mostly comes from processed food or restaurant meals.
A WHO representative said if
everyone consumes salt at the recommended level, about 2.5 million lives will
be saved worldwide.
Discussions focused on salt
consumption in Vietnam, related health concerns and WHO guidance, and
communications campaigns on the issue.
The General Department of
Preventative Medicine said it is drafting a national communication plan on salt
intake reduction in a bid to prevent heart diseases and other non-communicable
diseases.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
