ArticlePopulation health metrics2016
Salt intakes in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-regression.
Article in Population health metrics, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 57 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
57 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 156 citations in OpenAlex.
- Global prevalence and trends in hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus among slum residents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2022Pooled it
- The influence of the urban food environment on diet, nutrition and health outcomes in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review.BMJ global health · 2021Pooled it
- Monitoring and implementation of salt reduction initiatives in Africa: A systematic review.Journal of clinical hypertension (Greenwich, Conn.) · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
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- Socioeconomic inequalities in the prevalence of chronic non-communicable disease risk factors in the DIMAMO health and demographic surveillance system.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Sodium content of packaged foods and beverages in Nigeria: a cross-sectional comparative study with WHO global sodium benchmarks, Kenya, and South Africa.Journal of nutritional science · 2026Article
- Availability, healthiness and sodium content of packaged and unpackaged foods and beverages in nigeria: a cross-sectional study.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2025Article
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- Burden of Disease Attributable to High Systolic Blood Pressure in Young Adults: An Analysis From the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.Journal of clinical hypertension (Greenwich, Conn.) · 2025Article
- Global burden of chronic kidney disease due to hypertension (1990-2021): a systematic analysis of epidemiological trends, risk factors, and projections to 2036 from the GBD 2021 study.BMC nephrology · 2025Article
- Article
- Patterns, socioeconomic inequalities and determinants of healthy eating in Kenya: results from a national cross-sectional survey.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Application of decision analytic modelling to cardiovascular disease prevention in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.Communications medicine · 2025Article
- Worldwide and time trends in sodium and potassium intakes in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ nutrition, prevention & health · 2025Article
- Salt taste perception, dietary salt intake, cardiovascular health and genetic variation in Zambian adults with HIV.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Article
- Ultra-Processed Foods and Nutritional Intake of Children and Adolescents from Cantagalo, São Tomé and Príncipe.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Dietary salt intake and kidney function in rural Senegalese populations: a cross-sectional study.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2024Article
- Consumption of Discretionary Salt and Salt from Bouillon among Households, Women, and Young Children in Northern Region, Ghana: A Mixed-Methods Study with the Condiment Micronutrient Innovation Trial (CoMIT) Project.Current developments in nutrition · 2024Article
- Processed food consumption and risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in South Africa: evidence from Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) VII.Journal of nutritional science · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHigh sodium intake increases the risk of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. For this reason the World Health Organization recommends a maximum intake of 2 g per day and a 30 % reduction in population sodium intake by 2025. However, in global reviews, data on sodium intake in sub-Saharan Africa have been limited.
methodsA systematic review was conducted to identify studies reporting sodium intake in sub-Saharan African populations. Meta-regression analyses were used to test the effect of year of data collection and method of data collection (urinary/dietary), as well as any association between sex, urban/rural status or a country's economic development, and population sodium intake.
resultsWe identified 42 papers reporting 67 estimates of adult population sodium intakes and 12 estimates of child population sodium intakes since 1967. Of the 67 adult populations, 54 (81 %) consumed more than 2 g sodium/day, as did four of the 12 (33 %) child populations. Sixty-five adult estimates were included in the meta-regression, which found that urban populations consumed higher amounts of salt than rural populations and that urine collection gave lower estimates of sodium intake than dietary data.
conclusionsSodium intake in much of sub-Saharan Africa is above the World Health Organization's recommended maximum intake and may be set to increase as the continent undergoes considerable urbanization. Few identified studies used stringent measurement criteria or representative population samples. High quality studies will be required to identify where and with whom to intervene, in order to meet the World Health Organization's target of a 30 % reduction in population sodium intake and to demonstrate progress towards this target.
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