The theme set by World Action on Salt and Health (WASH) for 2019 WSAW was ACTION. This theme emphasised the need to act given the unacceptably high burden of unnecessary ill health and death due to high salt intakes. WASH and supporters called for action from governments, food industry, health charities and non-governmental organisations, and individuals. Read more here.
A selection of global activities from WSAW are shown below:
- PAHO undertook numerous activities during WSAW. The week began with a cooking demonstration of preparing and cooking a low-salt fish recipe, which was live on Instagram. This was followed by a “Less Salt, More Health” webinar that showcased PAHO’s planned salt reduction activities for 2019.
- Cooking demonstration (Spanish)
- Webinar (English and Spanish)
- Australia: New research by The George Institute for Global Health, VicHealth and the Heart Foundation revealed kids’ meals at fast food outlets are loaded with salt. One meal, a Hungry Jack’s 6 pack nugget meal, was found to contain 3.78g of salt, more than an entire day’s worth of salt for a child (4-8 years). There were large variations in the salt content of products between retailers, for example 6 pack nuggets at KFC and Hungry Jack’s contained double the amount of salt than at McDonalds. The analysis also looked globally, and found some kids meals were almost twice as salty in Australia than the same meal sold in the UK.
- A media event to launch the research was held in a park in Docklands, Melbourne; organised by Clockwork Projects & Events. The event secured TV coverage on SBS TV News interviewing campaign spokespeople Jen Reimers, Sian Armstrong, Kellie-Ann Jolly and case study family, Tiana Sweeney and her son Jonah. Pre-release interview coverage was also secured in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald and through AAP and its syndications with the release of the research reaching a cumulative audience of 2,015,474 million people around Australia.
- Media release and full report
- Video: How salty are your kids’ meals?