OMAHA, Neb.—Modest reductions in calorie and sodium intake significantly can benefit health, leading to improved productivity and a reduction in U.S. medical expenditures, according to two studies commissioned by ConAgra and published in the July issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion.
“One of the most revealing findings was just how big an impact 100 calories less per day can have compared to the more modest benefit of sodium reductions,” said lead author Timothy Dall of The Lewin Group.
The studies documented the impact of diet changes among the 225 million adults living in America by using information from sources such as the National Center for Health Statistics, The National Academy of Sciences and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The results show eating 100 calories less per day for each adult would lead to more than $100 billion in savings over the entire adult population based on today’s costs. This would come from $58 billion worth of medical cost savings by reducing the number of cases of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and other diseases; plus an increase in national productivity of $46 billion due to reduced absenteeism and disability. By comparison, this research found that the combined economic gain from medical cost savings and productivity gains from reducing dietary sodium intake by 400 milligrams would be about $5 billion.