To the Editor: There is convincing evidence that high salt diets are linked to elevated blood pressure — a major risk factor for chronic diseases.1 Premature mortality due to chronic diseases is a major contributor to the life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.2 Although much has been written about the health benefits of a traditional hunter-gatherer diet and the detrimental effects of colonisation on diet and exercise patterns,3 we know little about how colonisation has affected salt intake among Indigenous Australians.
The full article is accessible to AMA
members and paid subscribers.
Login to MJA or subscribe now.
- 1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Chronic diseases and associated risk factors in Australia, 2006. Canberra: AIHW, 2006. (AIHW Cat. No. PHE 81.)
- 2. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Contribution of chronic disease to the gap in adult mortality between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and other Australians. Canberra: AIHW, 2011. (AIHW Cat. No. IHW 48.)
- 3. O’Dea K. Traditional diet and food preferences of Australian Aboriginal hunter-gatherers. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 1991; 334: 233-241.
- 4. National Heart Foundation of Australia (National Blood Pressure and Vascular Disease Advisory Committee). Guide to the management of hypertension 2008. Updated 2010. Canberra: NHF, 2010.
- 5. He FJ, MacGregor GA. Effect of modest salt reduction on blood pressure: a meta-analysis of randomized trials. Implications for public health. J Hum Hypertens 2002; 16: 761-770.
- 6. Murray CJL, Lopez AD, Black R, et al. Global burden of disease 2005: call for collaborators. Lancet 2007; 370: 109-110.
- 7. National Health and Medical Research Council; New Zealand Ministry of Health. Nutrient reference values for Australia and New Zealand including recommended dietary intakes. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, 2006. www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/n35.pdf (accessed Mar 2013).
Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.
No relevant disclosures.
*On behalf of Mary-Anne Land, Sandra J Eades, Kerin O’Dea, Bruce C Neal, Alan Cass and Jacqui L Webster.