Talk:Health effects of salt

Obesity

I have removed a claim that increased salt intake is "related to" obesity, particularly childhood obesity. The cited source says:

In 2013, the WHA agreed 9 global voluntary targets for the prevention and control of NCDs, which include a halt to the rise in diabetes and obesity and a 30% relative reduction in the intake of salt by 2025.

and:

With many countries now seeing a rapid rise in obesity among infants and children, WHO in May 2014 set up a commission on childhood obesity. The Commission will draw up a report for 2015 specifying which approaches and actions are likely to be most effective in different contexts around the world.

According to this source, the only "relationship" between obesity and salt intake is that both of them are (separate) health-related concerns. Obesity is goal #7 and salt intake is goal #4 at https://www.who.int/nmh/ncd-tools/definition-targets/en/

According to other sources, there is a relationship, but the relationship is non-causative. Obese people eat more salt because they eat the same 'percentage' of salt on more food. If you eat 150% as much food as the next person, then you get 150% as much salt as the next person. WhatamIdoing (talk) 20:07, 20 November 2020 (UTC)

Doesn't the WHO/WHA source here say "In 2013, the WHA agreed 9 global voluntary targets for the prevention and control of NCDs, which include a halt to the rise in diabetes and obesity."? That acknowledges there's already evidence in the 21st century for a link between salt overconsumption and childhood obesity and diabetes. There exists other evidence, such as this. Zefr (talk) 22:23, 20 November 2020 (UTC)

No, it doesn't mean that. The WHA agreed to nine separate goals to deal with non-communicable diseases. They were:

1. A 25% relative reduction in the overall mortality from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, or chronic respiratory diseases
2. At least 10% relative reduction in the harmful use of alcohol, as appropriate, within the national context
3. A 10% relative reduction in prevalence of insufficient physical activity
4. A 30% relative reduction in mean population intake of salt/sodium
5. A 30% relative reduction in prevalence of current tobacco use in persons aged 15+ years
6. A 25% relative reduction in the prevalence of raised blood pressure or contain the prevalence of raised blood pressure, according to national circumstances
7. Halt the rise in diabetes and obesity
8. At least 50% of eligible people receive drug therapy and counselling (including glycaemic control) to prevent heart attacks and strokes
9. An 80% availability of the affordable basic technologies and essential medicines, including generics, required to treat major NCDs in both public and private facilities

The salt-reduction goal has nothing to do with diabetes and obesity, just like the tobacco-reduction goal has nothing to do with diabetes and obesity. The only "link" acknowledged is that all of these make people sick, not that the problems in #1–6 plus #8 and #9 somehow cause the problems in #7.

Similarly, the paper you link as "other evidence" says "BP levels in the young are increasing largely due to childhood obesity with concurrent secular diet changes including salt and possibly fructose exposure." That means that a high-salt diet causes high blood pressure in children. It does not mean that a high-salt diet causes childhood obesity. WhatamIdoing (talk) 05:49, 4 December 2020 (UTC)

FDA guidelines conflict with Lancet study

In the lead, we have the sentence Sodium intake that is too low, below 3 g per day (equivalent to about 7.5 g of salt), may also increase risk for cardiovascular disease and early death, cited to high quality sources (a review article in The Lancet). However, the FDA recommends that Americans consume 2,300 mg of salt per day. This recommendation seems to be in the "too little salt will lead to problems" danger zone that the Lancet article mentions. How do we reconcile these conflicting sources? Or am I misinterpreting something? Thanks. –Novem Linguae (talk) 21:24, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

I added a sentence to balance it out. In fact, I'd go as far to say that the 2300mg upper limit thing is the majority view, since that is the position of multiple national health agencies. –Novem Linguae (talk) 22:06, 18 March 2021 (UTC)