Development of Evaluation Methods to Reduce Sodium in Restaurant Foods

BACKGROUND

High sodium intake has been linked to preventable chronic health conditions, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. Nearly 80 percent of the sodium Americans consume is in processed and restaurant foods, which makes the healthy choice a difficult choice in many environments. In 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched the Sodium Reduction in Communities Program(SRCP) to increase sodium reduction strategies in communities, including sodium reduction in restaurants. However, there is a dearth of practice based evidence of restaurant initiatives aimed at lowering sodium. This presentation provides an overview of SRCP evaluation methods used to assess sodium reduction in communities and how these evaluations contribute to expanding practice based evidence in sodium reduction.

METHODS

Through a case study approach, CDC examined evaluation methodologies employed across SRCP sites to understand how various data collection methods are used to assess the availability of low sodium foods. RESULTS

Various evaluation methods are used to evaluate sodium reduction strategies in restaurants, including baseline and follow-up survey assessments, nutrition analysis, consumer surveys and interviews with restaurant owners. Evaluation successes include piloting surveys with restaurant owners prior to formal data collection and establishing relationships with restaurants. Evaluation challenges include insufficient evidence base of sodium reduction practices, specificity and duration of time needed to conduct menu analysis and lack of availability of restaurant owners to collect data.

DISCUSSION

Assessing and improving evaluation methods will build practice based evidence and offer insights to communities working to reduce sodium intake in the population.