Low-income Americans are eating too much salt, new study finds

Low-income Americans have too much salt in their diet, study says

BOSTON – A new study in JAMA Network Open finds that poorer Americans are eating too much salt, and the excess salt intake is taking a toll on their health.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University studied more than 64,000 low-income adults in 12 southeastern states and found that about 80% of the Black and White study participants were eating more salt than the daily recommended amount and that was associated with 10% to 30% of deaths from cardiovascular disease.

The researchers call on public health programs to reduce salt intake among underserved populations.

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Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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