THURSDAY, Dec. 19, 2013 (HealthDay News) -- More than 80 percent of children and 90 percent of teens and adults continue to consume sodium in excess of dietary recommendations, according to a report published in the Dec. 20 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Alicia Carriquiry, Ph.D., from Iowa State University in Ames, and colleagues analyzed 2003 to 2010 data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 34,916 participants aged ≥1 year. Excess sodium intake was defined as intake above the Institute of Medicine tolerable upper intake levels (1,500 mg/day at ages 1 to 3 years; 1,900 mg at 4 to 8 years; 2,200 mg at 9 to 13 years; and 2,300 mg at ≥14 years).
The researchers found that from 2007 to 2010 the prevalence of excess sodium intake ranged by age group from 79.1 to 95.4 percent. There were small declines in the prevalence of excess sodium intake in children aged 1 to 13 years during the study period, but not in adolescents or adults. Among persons aged ≥1 year, mean sodium intake declined slightly, but sodium density did not.
"Despite slight declines in some groups, the majority of the U.S. population aged ≥1 year consumes excess sodium," Carriquiry and colleagues conclude.
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