Developing a national salt reduction strategy for Mongolia.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Nutrition Science
• Non-communicable Disease Prevention

Background:

• Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) cause 80% of deaths in Mongolia, driven by risk factors like hypertension.
• Salt reduction is a highly cost-effective strategy for mitigating the NCD burden.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement a national salt reduction strategy in Mongolia.
• To assess population salt consumption patterns and pilot reduction initiatives.
• To establish an environment supporting reduced salt intake by 2025.

Main Methods:

• Development of a national salt reduction strategy by the Ministry of Health (MOH) starting in 2011.
• National consultation, training, and establishment of an inter-sectoral working party.
• Baseline survey of salt consumption, pilot interventions (e.g., Pinch Salt), and food industry engagement.

Main Results:

• Baseline salt intake was 11.06±5.99 g/day, over double the WHO recommendation.
• A pilot intervention reduced salt intake by 2.8 g/day among factory workers.
• Food industry initiatives reduced salt in bread; processed meat companies show willingness to reduce salt.

Conclusions:

• Mongolia's high stroke rates necessitate salt reduction initiatives to lower blood pressure.
• Scaling up current efforts is crucial for achieving a 30% population salt reduction by 2025.
• Integrating stroke surveillance will reliably assess the health impact of these salt reduction efforts.