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People in China consume 10 grams of salt a day on average, twice the amount recommended by the World Health Organization, and over the past four decades adults in China have had among the highest salt consumption in the world.

This trend was seen in a review of dozens of studies published since 1981. The review also found that consumption of potassium, which can counteract sodium鈥檚 effect on blood pressure, is less than half the recommended amount in both adults and children in China.

鈥淗igh blood pressure in childhood tracks into adulthood, leading to cardiovascular disease,鈥� said Monique Tan at Queen Mary University of London in a statement. 鈥淚f you eat more salt whilst you are young, you are more likely to eat more salt as an adult, and to have higher blood pressure. These incredibly high salt, and low potassium, figures are deeply concerning for the future health of the Chinese population.鈥�

Tan and her colleagues reviewed 70 studies published between 1981 and 2016 which included sodium and potassium levels from urine tests of more than 26,000 adults, and 900 children. These samples were collected over a 24-hour period to more accurately track sodium and potassium levels than data collected by self-reported diet surveys or estimates from a single urine sample.

The review revealed that salt intake in China has been consistently high since the 1980s, with regional differences across the country. In Northern China, salt intake is among the highest in the world, with adults consuming 11.2 grams a day, though intake has been decreasing over the past 40 years. That may be due to less reliance on pickled foods as fresh vegetables have become more available, and government programs to increase awareness of the recommended amount of sodium, Tan and her colleagues say.

Conversely, salt intake is on the rise in southern China, where it has increased from 8.8 grams per day in the 1980s to 10.2 grams per day in the 2010s. This may be due to people in this region eating out more and having access to more processed foods. Tan and her team say these sodium and potassium numbers may be underestimated, as they were not adjusted to account for losses of the two metals in faeces or sweat.