Overview:
Every year, “Action on Salt” organizes “World Salt Awareness Week” to help raise awareness of harmful effects of too much salt on our health. The annual campaign is our opportunity to highlight the hidden salt in our favorite food products, and encourage those who consider salt essential in their food and the food for their children to take the necessary measures.
Objectives:
- Raising awareness and education about salt reduction.
- Preventing deaths and morbidity from diet-related diseases, according to the World Health Organization, as about 2.5 million deaths could be prevented each year if global salt consumption was reduced to less than 5 grams per day.
- Creating a supportive environment in public institutions, such as hospitals, schools, workplaces, and nursing homes, to enable sodium reduction options to be followed.
- Reformulating food products to contain smaller amounts of salt, and setting target levels for the amount of salt in foods and meals.
Facts:
- Almost the entire population consumes very large amounts of sodium.
- The primary health effect associated with high-sodium diets is high blood pressure, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, stomach cancer, obesity, osteoporosis, Meniere's disease, and kidney disease.
- An estimated 1.89 million deaths each year are associated with consumption of very high amounts of sodium.
- There can be a lot of hidden salt in our diets, with most of our consumption coming from packaged foods.
- Excess salt intake is a major risk factor for high blood pressure, which in turn leads to cardiovascular disease and strokes.
Official Date:
- Globally: March 8th to March 14th, 2024
- Locally: Shaaban 27th to Ramadan 4th, 1445H