Director, Center for Children's Foodservice Management, Osong, Republic of Korea.
Department of Food & Nutrition, Shingu College, Seongnam, Republic of Korea.
BMJ Glob Health. 2020 May;5(5). doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2019-002028.
High dietary sodium is a leading contributor to hypertension, and hypertension is the leading underlying cause of death globally. There is a robust body of evidence supporting the health benefits of sodium reduction. Sodium intake in South Korea is high, with about half the population consuming 4000 mg/day, twice the recommended upper limit.
In 2012, South Korea implemented its National Plan to Reduce Sodium Intake, with a goal of reducing population sodium consumption by 20%, to 3900 mg/day, by 2020. The plan included five key components: (1) a consumer awareness campaign designed to change food consumption behaviours; (2) increased availability of low-sodium foods at schools and worksites; (3) increased availability of low-sodium meals in restaurants; (4) voluntary reformulation of processed foods to lower sodium content; and (5) development of low-sodium recipes for food prepared at home. Monitoring and evaluation included tracking sodium intake and sources of dietary sodium using the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
By 2014, South Korea had reduced dietary sodium consumption among adults by 23.7% compared to a survey conducted in 2010 prior to implementation of a nationwide salt reduction campaign that used this comprehensive, multipronged approach. The reductions in sodium intake were accompanied by reductions in population blood pressure and hypertension prevalence. Although causal associations between the sodium reduction programme and reduced sodium intake cannot be made, the declines occurred with the introduction of the programme.
Multicomponent interventions have great potential to reduce population sodium intake. Lessons learnt from South Korea could be applied to other countries and are likely very relevant to other Asian countries with similar food sources and consumption profiles.
高钠饮食是导致高血压的主要因素之一，而高血压是全球主要的死亡原因。有大量证据表明减少钠摄入量对健康有益。韩国的钠摄入量很高，约有一半人口每天摄入 4000 毫克，是建议上限的两倍。
2012 年，韩国实施了国家减钠计划，目标是到 2020 年将人口的钠摄入量减少 20%，降至 3900 毫克/天。该计划包括五个关键组成部分：（1）开展消费者意识运动，改变食品消费行为；（2）在学校和工作场所增加低钠食品的供应；（3）增加餐馆低钠餐的供应；（4）自愿对加工食品进行配方调整，降低钠含量；（5）为在家准备的食物开发低钠食谱。监测和评估包括通过韩国国家健康和营养检查调查跟踪钠摄入量和膳食钠的来源。
到 2014 年，与 2010 年在全国范围内开展减盐运动之前进行的调查相比，韩国成年人的膳食钠摄入量减少了 23.7%。钠摄入量的减少伴随着人群血压和高血压患病率的降低。虽然不能确定减盐计划与减少钠摄入量之间存在因果关系，但这些下降是在该计划推出的情况下发生的。
多组分干预措施具有很大潜力可减少人群的钠摄入量。韩国的经验教训可应用于其他国家，与其他亚洲国家具有相似的食物来源和消费模式，这些经验教训可能非常相关。
