SHOPPERS will be able to have a blood pressure check and get expert advice about stroke prevention at the Priory Meadow shopping centre, Hastings, on Wednesday 4 February.
The event has been organised by the Community Stroke Rehabilitation Team of NHS Hastings and Rother to coincide with Consensus Action on Salt and Health’s (CASH) National Salt Awareness Week running from 2-8 February.
“Eating too much salt can raise your blood pressure. People with high blood pressure are more likely to have a stroke or develop heart disease than those with normal blood pressure,” says Helen Simpson, the team’s Stroke Nurse.
The focus of Salt Awareness Week is to urge people to think about how much salt is added to food they eat outside the home.
It will also highlight the importance of choosing lower salt foods and asking for much less salt to be added to restaurant, cafe and takeaway food.
“We’re all more conscious of the salt we eat these days and many of us now check labels in the supermarket. Most adults in the UK eat between 9 – 12g of salt per day, however we should be aiming to have a maximum of 6g per day.
When we eat out or have a takeaway there’s often no information to tell us how much salt the chef has added. We need to get used to asking for less salt to be added to our food,” adds Penny Kaye, Senior Dietitian.
As well as the offer of a blood pressure check and advice about how to reduce salt in food, shoppers will also be able to get information about other ways to prevent stroke, including free support to stop smoking.
