PUBLISHED: 17 Aug 2024 at 04: 00
After a study that revealed that the typical Thai person consumes about twice the recommended daily consumption, experts are now urging the people to consume less salt to lower the risk of preventable diseases like heart disease and stroke.
Less Salt, a system of health advocacy groups that is pushing for clearer rules on sodium intake, has been cataloguing the ordinary sodium content of foods that Thais normally consume in an effort to raise public awareness of the risks of consuming too much calcium.
Krisada Hanbunjerd, commander of Less Salt’s Non-Communicable Disorders division, said the poll was first launched in 2020 in Phayao.
The network wants to expand the survey to other provinces next year, with the assistance of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, Mahidol University, and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration ( BMA ), Dr. Krisada said. This will give consumers a better understanding of what they are eating.
Less Salt’s leader, Surasak Kantachuvesiri, said the ordinary Thai consumes 3, 636 milligrammes of calcium each day, little higher than the 2, 000mg recommended by the World Health Organization.
High sodium consumption is associated with a higher risk of high blood pressure, kidney problems, heart disease and stroke, he said.
The study will be carried out with a sodium-ion sensor developed by Mahidol University’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, which is especially designed to work with Thai food, Dr Krisada said.
He said that this information will be compiled into suggestions that the general public can get using the Thai Salt Survey mobile app.