The amount of salt recommended for adults in diet is ________.

Appeared in: BTSC 3 August 2025

Explanation

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that adults consume less than 5 grams of salt (sodium chloride) per day.
This amount is equivalent to just under one teaspoon of salt or about 2 grams (2000 mg) of sodium.
Adhering to this limit helps lower blood pressure and significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and heart attack.

Option A: This is double the recommended maximum intake and is associated with an increased risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
Option B: This is three times the recommended limit. While average intake in some countries like India can be this high, it is considered very unhealthy and a major public health concern.
Option C: This is a very high level of salt intake, four times the recommended amount, posing significant health risks.

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Recommended Daily Salt Intake for Adults as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
Nurses play a crucial role in patient education regarding dietary sodium, especially for those with hypertension, heart failure, or kidney disease.
It's important to teach patients how to read food labels, as a majority of sodium intake often comes from processed and commercially prepared foods, not just salt added at the table.
What if? If a patient has established heart failure, the recommended sodium intake is often even lower (e.g., less than 1.5g/day), requiring stricter dietary management and monitoring for signs of fluid overload.

How to Approach the Question

Identify the question as a factual recall question asking for a specific nutritional guideline.
Recognize that such guidelines are set by major health authorities like the World Health Organization (WHO).
Recall or deduce the standard recommendation for daily salt intake for the general adult population.
Eliminate the higher values (10g, 15g, 20g) as they are excessively high for a general health recommendation and are associated with disease.
Select the lowest value, '< 5g/day', which aligns with the well-established public health guideline for disease prevention.

Concept Tested & Keywords

Qu3DnIAewVqadBGvT8VRfv

E6 Medicine Harrison 22e Part 2 p. 46-48

E6 Parks TextBook of Preventive & Social Medicine part 2 — Subpart A (pp 1-232 of 464) p. 175-177

Practise the full BTSC 3 August 2025

Attempt every question from this paper in a timed mock, then review the full solution for each one.