[ti:Less Salt Can Mean More Life] [ar:Faith Lapidus] [al:Health Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:02.95]Health Report. [00:03.95]Even a small reduction [00:06.26]in salt in the diet can [00:08.61]be a big help to the heart. [00:10.83]A new study used a computer model [00:13.81]to predict how just three grams [00:16.86]less a day would affect [00:19.50]heart disease in the United States. [00:21.73]The result: thirteen percent [00:24.52]fewer heart attacks. [00:26.22]Eight percent fewer strokes. [00:28.14]Four percent fewer deaths. [00:30.65]Eleven percent fewer new cases [00:33.69]of heart disease. [00:34.92]And two hundred forty billion dollars [00:38.02]in health care savings. [00:39.78]Researchers found it could prevent [00:43.17]one hundred thousand heart attacks [00:45.72]and ninety-two thousand [00:47.56]deaths every year. [00:49.22]The study is in the [00:51.82]New England Journal of Medicine. [00:53.91]Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo [00:56.70]at the University of [00:58.19]California San Francisco, [00:59.93]was the lead author. [01:01.78]She says people would not [01:04.76]even notice a difference [01:06.75]in taste with three grams, [01:08.99]or one-half teaspoon, [01:11.23]less salt per day. [01:13.22]The team also included researchers [01:17.20]at Stanford and Columbia University. [01:20.29]Each gram of salt contains [01:23.97]four hundred milligrams of sodium, [01:27.12]which is how foods may [01:28.96]list their salt content. [01:30.95]The government says [01:32.84]the average American man [01:35.08]eats ten grams of salt a day. [01:38.42]The American Heart Association [01:41.07]advises no more than three grams [01:44.16]for healthy people. [01:45.90]It says salt in the American diet [01:49.48]has increased fifty percent [01:52.37]since the nineteen seventies, [01:55.11]while blood pressures [01:56.62]have also risen. [01:58.21]Less salt can mean [02:00.30]a lower blood pressure. [02:02.37]New York City [02:04.88]Mayor Michael Bloomberg [02:06.77]is leading an effort [02:09.60]called the National [02:10.80]Salt Reduction Initiative. [02:13.78]The idea is to put pressure [02:16.25]on food companies and restaurants. [02:19.44]Critics call it government interference. [02:22.84]Mayor Bloomberg has already [02:26.52]succeeded in other areas, [02:28.78]like requiring fast food [02:31.32]places in the city [02:32.71]to list calorie information. [02:35.17]Now a study by the Seattle [02:38.96]Children's Research Institute [02:41.16]shows how that idea can influence [02:44.47]what parents order for their children. [02:47.22]Ninety-nine parents of [02:49.86]three to six year olds took part. [02:52.70]Half had McDonald's menus [02:56.18]clearly showing how many calories [02:59.18]were in each food. [03:00.98]The other half got menus [03:03.48]without the calorie information. [03:05.94]Parents given the counts [03:08.72]chose an average of [03:10.61]one hundred two fewer calories [03:13.65]when asked what they would [03:15.74]order for their children. [03:17.23]Yet there was no difference [03:19.79]in calories between the two groups [03:22.19]for foods that the parents [03:24.39]would have chosen for themselves. [03:26.48]Study leader Pooja Tandon says [03:30.01]even small calorie reductions [03:32.70]on a regular basis can prevent [03:35.21]weight gain over time. [03:37.05]The study was published [03:39.40]in the journal Pediatrics. [03:41.69]And that's the VOA Special English [03:45.02]Health Report, [03:45.84]written by Caty Weaver. [03:47.73]What do you think is a government's [03:50.47]duty on issues like salt or fats? [03:52.98]Let us know at 51voa.com. [03:58.10]I'm Faith Lapidus.