Hypertension Research Programme - HT09

Developing the evidence base for a national salt reduction program for India

Project location: India

Project duration: 2012 - 2015

Funding organisation

• National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

Primary research aim

The overall goal of this 3-year project is to develop the evidence base required to formulate a national salt reduction program for India. This will be done by conducting an integrated, multifaceted research program comprised of stakeholder assessments, population surveys and food supply evaluations. It is hoped this research will then provide the data required to formulate and implement a plausible national salt reduction program for India.

Research objectives and methodology

The specific objectives for each research component are:

• Stakeholder survey - to obtain a comprehensive understanding of consumer and other stakeholder opinions in relation to the most effective mechanisms for reducing salt intake: Face-to-face in-depth interviews with stakeholders from academia, industry, government, non-government and focus group discussions with consumers.
• Population survey – to estimate the mean daily salt consumption of the Indian population, the main sources of salt in the diet, and population knowledge about the adverse effects of salt on health: 24hr urinary sodium excretion/spot urine samples; 24hr dietary recall survey; demography and anthropometry; knowledge, attitudes and behaviors on salt intake using a questionnaire.
• Food survey – to estimate the mean and variation in the nutritional quality of common processed and restaurant foods: shop survey to capture nutrition information on packaged food available in Hyderabad and Delhi supermarkets.

Current status

Population surveys in North and South India are complete. Stakeholder interviews and focus group discussions are ongoing into 2015. Shop survey in North and South India is complete.

Project contact: Dr Sailesh Mohan – smohan [at] phfi.org and Claire Johnson - cjohnson [at] georgeinstitute.org.au

Investigators

• Bruce Neal, The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney Australia
• Jacqui Webster, The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney Australia
• Claire Johnson, The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney Australia
• Dorairaj Prabhakaran, Centre for Chronic Disease Control, Public Health Foundation of India and All India Institute of Medical Sciences ,India
• Sailesh Mohan, Public Health Foundation of India, Gurgaon, India
• Srinath Reddy, Public Health Foundation of India, Gurgaon, India
• Roopa Shivashankar, Public Health Foundation of India, Gurgaon, India
• Anand Krishnan, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
• Pallab Maulik, George Centre for Health Care Innovation, Oxford University, Hyderabad, India
• Graham MacGregor, Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Queen Mary, University of London, UK
• Feng He, Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Queen Mary, University of London, UK
• Thout Sudhir, The George Institute for Global Health, New Delhi, India

Publications

1. Johnson, C. Mohan, S, Rogers, K., Shivashankar, R., Raj, TS., Gupta, P…. Neal, B. “The Association of Knowledge and Behaviours Related to Salt with 24-h Urinary Salt Excretion in a Population from North and South India” Nutrients.(2017), 9(2), 144; doi:10.3390/nu9020144
2. Johnson, C. Mohan, S, Rogers, K., Shivashankar, R., Raj, TS., Gupta, P…. Neal, B. “Mean dietary salt intake in urban and rural areas in India – a population survey of 1395 individuals”. Journal of the American Heart Association. (2017). 6(1), e004547.
3. Johnson C, Mohan S, Praveen D, Woodward M, Maulik PK, Shivashankar R, et al. Protocol for developing the evidence base for a national salt reduction programme for India. BMJ open. 2014; 4(10): e006629