Original paper
Effects on blood pressure of a decrease in sodium use in institutional food preparation: The exeter-andover project

https://doi.org/10.1016/0895-4356(89)90056-5Get rights and content

Abstract

To judge the effect on blood pressure, sodium intake of students at two boarding high schools was reduced by 15–20% o through changes in food purchasing and in preparation practices in the schools' kitchens. Students were not asked to change their usual eating habits. Each school served alternately as the control or intervention school for one school year. Blood pressure was monitored among 341 subjects during control years and 309 subjects during intervention years.

Analysis of blood pressure differences between early in the school year and near the end of the school year, with adjustment for sex and initial blood pressure, showed the effect of the dietary intervention to be −1.7 mmHg for systolic (95% CI = −0.6, −2.9, p = 0.003) and −1.5 mmHg for diastolic pressure (95% CI= −0.6, −2.5, p=0.002).

Such modest and easily attainable changes in sodium intake, if maintained, could have a significant effect on the future risk of essential hypertension among young people.

References (26)

  • M.S. Fregly et al.

    The estimates of sodium intake by man

  • J.C. Hunt

    Sodium intake and hypertension: a cause for concern

    Ann Intern Med

    (1983)
  • R.G. Bursey

    Diet modification and the development of new food products

    Ann Intern Med

    (1983)
  • Cited by (48)

    • Long-Term Impact of a Chef on School Lunch Consumption: Findings from a 2-Year Pilot Study in Boston Middle Schools

      2012, Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
      Citation Excerpt :

      Although students often benefit more from multicomponent interventions,19,20,22-24,27 this pilot study's results suggest that by training cafeteria staff to provide healthier, more palatable choices, changes to the cafeteria food alone have the potential to improve the food habits of the students. Interventions such as the Chef Initiative can also improve the health of the students: The reduction of sodium in the Chef Initiative was similar to that of the Exeter-Andover Project, which reduced sodium in school meals and found students' blood pressure decreased.33 Additional studies should examine ways to further reduce sodium levels in school meals, such as a formal cafeteria staff education program to help them identify lower-sodium products.

    • Dietary salt, high blood pressure and other harmful effects on health

      2007, Reducing Salt in Foods: Practical Strategies
    View all citing articles on Scopus

    This study was supported by Grant HL32821 from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and funds from the Harvard Human Nutrition Program.

    Current address: Merck, Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

    View full text