FIGURE 2-4 Mean sodium densities of home and away-from-home foods over time for persons 2 or more years of age.

NOTES: Restaurants, fast food, and schools reflect subsets of away-from-home foods. Restaurants are defined as those with waiter and waitress service, fast food includes self-service restaurants and carryout places, and schools include day-care centers and summer camps. Analyzed using 1-day mean intake data from NHANES 2003–2006 (also see Chapter 5 and Appendix F). kcal = calorie; mg = milligram.

SOURCES: Lin et al., 1999; NHANES 2003–2006.

nationally representative data collected between 1987 and 1995 reveal that the measures of sodium intake density of foods consumed either at home or away from home were similar (Lin et al., 1999). Likewise, foods obtained from fast food restaurants and schools have sodium densities that were not too different from those of the at-home food category, as shown in Panel B. Slightly higher sodium densities were reported for restaurant foods and slightly lower densities are seen for schools. These results suggest similar salt additions to foods from most locations during this time period.