Developing a campaign to reduce the population's dangerously high sodium consumption is one of the most pressing public health matters facing Canada, a new article published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal charges.
The article, written by two of Canada's leading experts on the health effects of sodium, comes as a federal task force charged with creating potential solutions faces a change in leadership and significant delays in progress.
The delays have caused mounting frustration among a growing network of medical experts who say urgent action on sodium is needed, but that the federal government is dragging its feet, using the wrong approach and consequently putting lives at risk by failing to make sodium reduction a national priority.
The serious dangers posed by the country's excessive salt intake, including the toll it's taking on the health of children and teens, was the subject of a major series published by The Globe and Mail earlier this year.
“I think a lot of people in the health community would like to see more action and a more rapid response to the sodium issue,” said Kevin Willis, director of partnerships at the Canadian Stroke Network and one of the authors of the CMAJ article . Dr. Willis is also a member of the sodium working group, a federally appointed task force that's supposed to devise strategies and solutions for dealing with the problem.
The task force was created two years ago, but little progress has been made and its goals appear as far away as ever. A Health Canada spokeswoman revealed that the department doesn't expect to see a national action plan unveiled until the end of next year – a major delay that's fuelling discontent among medical professionals.
In comparison, a similar Health Canada task force set up to deal with artery-clogging trans fats had completed its work and received commitment to action from the federal government within two years.
The federal government's sodium working group was further stalled after its chairwoman, Mary L'Abbé, left Health Canada for a position at the University of Toronto in early July. The department is now proposing to replace her with Hasan Hutchinson, director general of the office of nutrition policy and promotion at Health Canada, according to Dr. L'Abbé, who said she expects to continue as vice-chair.
But the shift in leadership is a snag that threatens to further delay what many see as a process that's already taken far too long.
“[Sodium] requires urgent action,” said Martin Bitzan, director of the pediatric nephrology division at Montreal Children's Hospital. “It's not something that requires tremendous resources to be done.”
Members of the sodium task force are scheduled to meet this fall to start talking about how to go about setting sodium reduction targets for various food categories, a key component of any successful sodium reduction campaign.
But medical experts say Canada needs solutions now. Sodium is a major risk factor for the development of high blood pressure, an affliction that affects about 20 per cent of Canada's population. High blood pressure can lead to heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases, major causes of death in this country.
The average Canadian consumes 3,092 milligrams of sodium a day, more than double the recommended amount for any age group, and statistics show that nearly all toddlers and children consume enough sodium to elevate their risk of health problems. Hypertension experts predict a growing number of young Canadians will suffer heart attacks and other serious health problems if measures aren't taken to combat excessive salt intake.
“We've raised this alarm in terms of sodium for 10, 15 years,” said Ross Feldman, past chair of the Canadian Hypertension Education Program and R.W. Gunton professor of therapeutics at the University of Western Ontario's Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry. “It's on the radar screen now, but I think it's a long way from implementation.”
