Having normal blood pressure (BP) level does not mean one can take more salt with their food. Cutting down salt intake by 10% to 20% could prevent strokes, heart attacks and kidney failure to a great extent, according to Rajan Ravichandran, chairman of Sapiens Health Foundation.
“Everyone knows they should reduce salt once they have high BP. We want to target the normal population. They should reduce salt intake to prevent high BP. Hence, we have shifted our target to students so that they reduce their intake at a young age,” he said while distributing prizes to schoolchildren for an essay writing contest on “Salt in Diet and Health” on Friday.
The foundation that has been campaigning for low salt intake for the last 11 years wrote to nearly 300 food manufacturers to cut down added salt in their products, Mr. Ravichandran said. “Instant noodles has the highest salt content. We wrote to the food manufacturers a year ago, and two responded. One manufacturer said they have their own salt reduction programme, while the other reduced the salt level in their product,” Mr. Ravichandran added.
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He said the world’s number one killer was hypertension and its complications such as heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure. K.N. Ramaswamy, director of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (Chennai Kendra), said extra tax on salt would create awareness on the impact of having excess salt.
“Schools should ensure that children avoid processed food,” he said. The contest received 117 entries from nine schools in the city.Vijaya Bharathi Rangarajan, president of Rotary Club of Madras and P.N. Mohan, ex-president of Rotary Club of Madras spoke. Nalamdana group staged a skit on the occasion.