The urgency of monitoring salt consumption and its effects in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians

To the Editor: There is convincing evidence that high salt diets are linked to elevated blood pressure — a major risk factor for chronic diseases.1 Premature mortality due to chronic diseases is a major contributor to the life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.2 Although much has been written about the health benefits of a traditional hunter-gatherer diet and the detrimental effects of colonisation on diet and exercise patterns,3 we know little about how colonisation has affected salt intake among Indigenous Australians.