Category: Population

Population Size and Growth Rates

It is a well-known fact that China and India are tow world’s most populated countries with the population sizes that have reached above one billion people. However, not many know the other countries are included in the ten of the states with that largest population. This knowledge is crucial for businesses expanding globally and searching for the largest customer bases. The table below represents the list of the largest populations sorted by countries.

(Population Reference Bureau 2).

As one may see from the numbers presented in the table, the gaps between the population sizes of China and India and the third listed country, the United States is huge and equals about one billion people. That way, no one could be compared to the two giants and absolute leaders in terms of the customer base. It is worth noticing that the average level of income in the developing countries of China and India is significantly lower than that of the United States, one of the world’s richest states. As a result, in terms of buying capacity, the USA may turn out to become a leader. However, as stated in the description of the product, it is anticipated to be equally popular among the populations with all levels of income. Therefore, China and India keep its leading ranks and remain the most outstanding markets in terms of customer base size.

Another set of variables that is crucial for the customer base and market research is the growth rate of the populations of the globe. This data is relevant because the newly developed product is going to be launched all around the world. As a result, the population growth rates represent the increase in the anticipated customer bases. The table below presents the data that reflects the predicted leaders in terms of population sizes by the years of 2050.

(Population Reference Bureau 2).

The forecasted numbers demonstrate that the two leaders, China and India, will remain at the top of the list but they will exchange their ranks as India’s population is expected to grow at a much rate than that of China. Besides, Nigeria is anticipated to experience quite a rapid population growth which would facilitate its leap from the 8^th position to the 4^th. Some more changes can be observed at the very bottom of the table where Russia and Mexico are replaced by the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia, the new participants with some of the largest populations of the globe.

FDI Confidence Index

FDI stands for foreign direct investment. The FDI Index shows the attractiveness of the countries as the targets for the investments from abroad. FDI results in multiple benefits for the host country such as the exchange of new technologies, the addition and allocation of resources, the increase in labor power and opportunities, the integration into the global and international markets, and the overall speed of development and advancement within a country. The table below presents the list of the twenty-five countries that by 2016 were considered as the most attractive destinations for foreign investors.

(A.T. Kearney par. 2).

As one may see from the table, the United States is at the very top with the leading rank among the countries that are recognized as the most attractive in terms of foreign investment. The majority of the countries on the list are located in Europe; most are the members of the European Union and are located in the Western part of the area. The East of Europe is represented by Poland and the central part – by Austria. As for the representatives of the other regions, Asia is represented by five states, two are from North America, one from South America, and the 10^th position belongs to Australia. Africa and the Middle East are not represented at all. It seems that these areas are deemed not to have pleasurable conditions for the development of business and for the international expansions. Besides, the differences in indexes are minimal; in many cases, several countries in a row show the same level of FDI confidence.

Works Cited

A.T. Kearney. The 2015 A.T. Kearney Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index. 2016. Web.

Population reference Bureau. 2015 World Population Data Sheet. 2015. Web.

Abstract

The global population trend is notably aging. A study of the population trend together with its possible impacts indicates a looming crisis that could have global negative effects on both economic and social factors. In this paper, research is done from secondary sources of information to give a detailed overview of the population trend with specification to some countries in both the west and east. The study reveals that policies should be formulated, either globally or at national levels to subvert the looming crisis due to the aging population.

Introduction

The demographic structures of a society or a nation define all aspects of life, whether social, economic or political. Institutions and individual persons make decisions that that affects these aspects. The discussion in this writing seeks to discuss effects of population trend and the over-aging of many western countries.

With information from current resources like magazines and journals published in March 2011 and current books, the paper will discuss economic impacts of the population trend and the over-aging of the western countries on the global economic environment. The paper will also discuss the political and social impacts of demography.

Population Trend

Mathematicians examine a trend in terms of a pattern that is adopted by a particular subject. These patterns occasionally have significant implications on a variety of real life issues. Statistical measures like census or sample surveys reveal quantities and their implications on the environment. A case study of a population census revealed in March, 2011 by North Field News had interesting revelations.

The data indicated that population growth primarily happens in metropolitan and not in rural areas. In fact, the average growth rate is twenty percent in the cities while the individual county with the highest growth rate recorded only seven percent. This is due to significant migration to the cities (Lindberg 1). According to a catholic journal published on seventeenth March, 2011, the life expectancy in the United States of America has vastly increased with a significant decrease in the death rate.

In addition, life expectancy increased to about eighty years in the year 2009. It was further reported that the number of older people are generally on the increase in developing countries. A seven percent average increase is estimated for centenarians in the United States-centenarians are people who are at least one hundred years old (Catholic 1).

Recently, Germany reported a crisis due to ageing of the workforce and decreasing population over all. They estimated that the workforce will reduce by about five million in the next decade. Germany is just an example, though a closely similar trend is predicted in many of the western countries (Larry and Kollewe 1).

Similarly, it has been noted in the United States that the aging problem if developing. An increased life expectancy together with significantly increasing percentage of the elderly in the American population is notable. It can be statistically concluded that the population trend is changing in the United States and other western countries. A sample of the United States and European countries like the Germany, Britain and Spain can be used as an inference to the general population trends in the America and European countries.

The increased health and medical facilities in these developed countries can be used to explain this change in population trend that has realized increasing population of the elderly (Elliott and Kollewe 1). A further worry is raised by the fact that a majority of the work force in some of these countries are the elderly who will soon be faced out of the labor system due to their age. Another cause of this trend is the change in social views that led to reduced birth rates in these countries in the past years (Greenberg 1).

An almost similar trend in demography is exhibited in other continents. A case study of the demographic trend in Asian countries indicates a similarity to the trend observed in the western countries. The recent earthquake in Japan sent an indicator of the country’s population trend as reported statistics indicated that a majority of the victims of the calamity were the elderly.

Either list of the survivors or the missing people in the Japanese earthquake were significantly dominated by the elderly age group. In the 31^st march, 2011 article titled “Asia braces for its date with demographic destiny”, Wheatley Alan pointed out that the most important step for Japan in its restructuring agenda should be “solving the issue ageing society with a low birth rate” (Wheatley 1).

According to Alan, Japan is the leading among the ageing nations with a record of thirty per cent of its population being more than sixty years of age as at the year 2010. With its trend, the percentage composition of the Japanese population by the elderly, of more than sixty years of age, is projected to hit thirty seven percent by the year twenty thirty. Close to the Japanese demographic trend is that of South Korea which is projected to have thirty two percent of the population as the elderly (Wheatley 1).

China is also reported to exhibit increasing trend in the ageing population. It is estimated that by the year 2015, Chinese elderly population shall have grown from its 12 percent in the year 2010 up to 16 percent (Tsuruoka 1). The changing population trend has been caused by a number of factors such as improved health standards that resulted in higher life expectancy among others. In china for example, the trend is majorly attributed to the one child policy that was established in the earlier years of 1980s.

The policy which was harshly enforced by the government ensured reduced birth rate. At the same time, life expectancy increased from previous forty two years and thirty nine years for women and men respectively in the middle of twentieth century to seventy one years and sixty eight years respectively at the close of the twentieth century (Columbia 1).

Effects of the Population Trend in the Western Countries

The population trend and the aging factor evidenced in the above mentioned countries all aspects of life and social economic planning. As Bloch Brian reported, these demographic trends have implied effects in business sector of economies. One of the effects of this demographic change is on investment and pension schemes.

The social nature of the demographic structure is expected to play an important role in the economic effects of the demographic changes. “Baby boomers”, reaching retirement age are the key players and the major asset owners in the global economy and they will move their assets in their old age. The worst problem is the spending younger generation who are seen as not keen on savings.

The effect of the situation will be a flooded market for assets with no buyers leading to their loss of value. This claim of negative economic effect of demographic changes is however refuted by views that the relationship between the population trend and the economies is not significantly correlated. It is further argued that the demographic factors could have been factored in the current stock prices besides the global investments across borders into the western economies (Bloch 1).

The change in population trend also has a significant effect in the labor market. The facing out of the ageing generation who are also the main suppliers of labor force in some countries is expected to result in scarcity in human resource in these countries.

The German government through its labor minister confers that the issue of expected labor shortage is real and measures are being considered to import labor force in the future years. This leads to the social impacts of immigration that will witness social interactions of a variety of races and nationalities that will be imported into these western economies (Larry and Kollewe 1).

The trend and structure of the western population also have effects in the country’s politics. A survey conducted in Britain indicated that the age factor significantly affected political views. It was noted that a larger percentage of the older people are aligned to conservative views while the youth are significantly not interested in politics and a majority of them don’t vote.

The older generation which is increasing in population is also the most financially stable and their alignment to a political party would influence politics in terms of campaign funding during elections. The political effects of the demographic structure are actually significant globally (McLean and McMillan 6).

One of the effects of the Asian aging population is the high cost of sustaining the social welfare of the elderly. This is specifically so as the elderly needs expenditure on them while their contribution to the economy is either minimal or zero. Another significant effect of the aging population is the reduced labor force into the economy.

With a large percentage of the population aging, the active number in terms of human resource supply is on the decrease. This phenomenon has been identified as a threat that can “impede economic development by reducing the size of productive ages” (Hermalin 6).

Conclusion

The population trend in America and the European countries has been changing over time with the population of the elderly increasing while that of the younger people is on the decrease.

The trend is caused by reduced birth rates and increased health facilities that have increased the life expectancy in the countries. The demographic change however has effects in economic, social and political aspects which will be more significant in future if the population trend and the ageing of the western countries continue in the same direction. Similarly, the trend is realized in the Asian countries.

The population of the elderly is increasing while that of the youth is on the decline. There also therefore exists a consistently predictable crisis in the future economic and social status in Asia. Necessary measures and policies should therefore be taken to ensure that the threat that the demographic trend is posing is countered before it explodes into a global crisis.

Works Cited

Bloch, Brian. Demographic Trends and the Implications for Investment. Demographic Trends, 2011. Web.

Catholic. U.S. life expectancy rises, while death rate falls. Catholic, 2011. Web.

Columbia. Issues and trend in china’s demographic history. Columbia, 2009. Web.

Elliott, Larry & Kollewe, Julian. Germany faces up to problem of ageing workforce. Gurdian, 2011. Web.

Greenberg, Moe. Considerations for investigation of the elderly victim. Policeone, 2011. Web.

Hermalin, Albert. The well-being of the elderly in Asia: a four-country comparative study. New York,NY: University of Michigan Press, 2002. Print.

Lindberg, Joseph. Census 2010: Rice county cities boom at expense of townships. North Field, 2011. Web.

McLean, Iain and McMillan, Alistair. The concise Oxford dictionary of politics. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.

Tsuruoka, Doug. Aging population helps lift china biologic products. Investor, 2011. Web.

Wheatley, Alan. Asia braces for its date with demographic destiny. Gulf News, 2011. Web.

Despite the economic growth in China, the working conditions both the residents and immigrants have significantly deteriorated. The article called China’s Floating Population provides an extensive and detailed analysis of the consequences of the country’s economic reformation with regard to the historical pre-conditions, current problems, and future perspectives for development¹. As a result of the analysis, Solinger has revealed rigid inconsistency between the country’s policy, economic growth, and social welfare.

The divergence in interests and goals has led to the collapse of the social system, but provided significant improvements into economy of China. In addition, the researcher explained the underpinning for the emergence of phenomenon of floating population being the shortcoming of working class dislocation.

While reading the article, I have come across several important ideas that have changed my vision on the current situation in China. To begin with, the open door policy has aggravated the conditions of agricultural sectors due to the population floating to cities in the search for new jobs.

Second, the introduced reform has led to the development of new class of workers – unprivileged groups living in towns on temporally basic and having no legal rights and freedoms on the part of the employers they are working with. Finally, because of the aggravation of the working conditions, mass workers’ unrest has become the reason for social instability.

To highlight the significant shifts in social and economic infrastructure in country, the author provides a chronological division of the material. Hence, it is possible to understand the historical pre-conditions of the emergent changes, the events contributed to failure to improve the working conditions and deal with workers’ unrest, and the exposure of classes that will contribute to economic recession in future².

The flow of ideas allows the readers to understand why a one-dimensional approach can create serious obstacle to social and economic stability in China. The floating population because of migration has left the agricultural sector under the threat of total disaster. Besides, the urbanization process created more problems with employment procedures.

While analyzing the article, it is possible to agree with the idea that the economic progress in China has occurred at the expense of employees who suffered from unequal distribution of jobs and unfair treatment. Specifically, the Hukou system and governmental policies implemented provided the residents with serious challenges in terms of workforce competitiveness.

In particular, immigrant workers are more attractive because of their salary demands were not so high in comparison with the ones introduced by residents of the town. In this respect, the article provides sufficient evidence of the profound impact of the China’s floating population on social-political stability in the country. This problem remains unsolved because of the government’s reluctance to meet the concerns of the workers.

Aside from practical concerns and empirical data, the article also provides a fresh insights into the theoretical framework under which the changes have occurred. Looking from this perspective, the author has managed to interpret the situation in a consistent way.

Bibliography

Solinger, Dorothy, J. “China’s Floating Population: Implications for State and Society”, in The Paradox of China’s Post-Mao Reforms. Edited by Merle Goldman and Roderick MacFaquhar, 220-240. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999.

Footnotes

¹ Dorothy, J Solinger,. “China’s Floating Population: Implications for State and Society”, in The Paradox of China’s Post-Mao Reforms. Ed. Merle Goldman and Roderick MacFaquhar, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999), 224.

² Dorothy, J Solinger,. “China’s Floating Population: Implications for State and Society”, in The Paradox of China’s Post-Mao Reforms. Ed Merle Goldman and Roderick MacFaquhar, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999), 231.

Introduction

To prepare Minority Report on purchasing power and market potential for the 3 largest minority target markets it needs to consider three minority groups such as black, Asians and Hispanic Group, and necessary to discuss total number in the US, percent of the total US population, rate of growth, average household size, average age, Education, average income levels, Geographic location, purchasing habits and best media to use to target each group.

Black

The blacks are approached from the slavery process from Africa and Middle East. Total number of people in the USA of racial group has increased to more than 100 million. It is 1/3 of the total population. The income level for males and females is $27,110 and $22328. The growth rate is 3.4%. About 1/3 lived in metropolitan area. The consuming foods item are favorites to them. The best media to reach them is advertisement and television. Average age of male is 75 years and female is 69 years. At least 26% of all Asians completed their graduation and at least 11% have not been completed the 9th grade. The purchasing power is not quite good as the off job service is more. 68% of disposable income is expensed for staple goods.

Asians

The Asia- Pacific region’s population is mostly concentrated to USA. Before 1897 the Asians were brought as slaves. Asians are the second growing fastest-growing in terms of minority group. The growing rate is 3.2% and total population is 14.9 million. The income level for males and females are 36,152and 25285 in US dollars. About 45% of total Asians live in non-metropolitan area. Own occupied household size is only 30%.

The most useable item is technology products. 45% of total income is expensed on staple goods. Best media is TV to reach to them. Average age of male is 70 years and female is 64 years. At least 25% of all Asians completed their graduation and at least 20% have not been completed the 8th grade.

Hispanic Group

Hispanic group is composed of from Spain, Latin America and Mexico. The Hispanic group’s population is increased to 44.3 million. The percentage is 14.8% among total population. Hispanic householders consisted of 5 or more people. Family household with two people is about 21.7%. More than 2 in five people have not completed graduation.

More than one quarter have not completed 9th grade of schooling. 44.7 % in the west and 7.9 % in the west. 46.4% of total Hispanic lives in metropolitan area. 8.5% lives in non-metropolitan area. 19.4% of Hispanics like to work in service industry. 63% of total population expenses their income on technological goods and rest of the amount is expensed on staple and entertainment items. At least 45% of all Asians completed their graduation and at least 5% have not been completed the 8th grade. The income level for males and females are 23,613 and 22941 in US dollars. Average age of males is 79 years and female is 72 years.

The minority population in US is undergoing a dramatic expansion, provided that a potential source of retail growth for financial institutions. Bank and other business depending on their business model and targeted customer base, they are using various approaches to reach minority consumers. In order to grow minority markets their products, services, and marketing strategies play a vital role. For example the purchasing power of black is not quite good only 68% of disposable income is expensed for staple goods. However service providers always consider their needs.

Bibliography

Kotler, P. and Armstrong,. G. (2007), Principles of Marketing, 12th edition, Prentice Hall of India, Page-194-233, ISBN 0131659030.

Schoendorf K, Hogue C, Kleinman J, Rowley D. Mortality among infants of black as compared to white college-educated parents. N Engl J Med. 1992;326:1522–6.

Griffin, R. W. (2006), Management, 8th Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston New York, ISBN: 0-618-35459x.

The issues and questions of population care, composition and control are complex problems influenced by economic, social and political situations in the country. This issue requires complex approaches based on the unique situation inside the country and its financial health. In India, the questions of population care, composition and control are both national and international concern because of the unstable political and economic situation inside the country.

Population care and composition requires national approaches based on cultural traditions and historical trends. For instance, the money comes flowing in, and because none of the retired population is covered, little of the financial resources goes flowing out. Early surpluses tend to get spent, and taxes tend to remain low. The result is that social support programs have tendencies toward financial instability, in part because of anticipated outflows of profits, but also because their short-term financing is increasingly dependent on the Indian economy (Dyson et al 76). In this case, the Indian government should stipulate the main trends and approaches but the international community should support these ideas and maintain close cooperation in such issues as pandemics and disease management. Roughly half of everything that federal, state, and local authorities spend on social welfare, including education, housing, welfare, veterans programs, health, social insurance, and other human services, goes toward social support expenditures that amount to 9% of the gross national product. The major health care programs cover nearly all workers and their families (Dyson et al 32).

In case of population control, this issue should be influenced by national policies only. In spite of the existence of public and private transfers, the Indian government has also chosen to make a substantial investment in social insurance. Thus, international cooperation and consultations are possible as they will help India to adopt new programs and plans for population control and resource allocation. Program costs are predictable for each social program and are then divided by the number of people paying into the program. Then, when these healthcare risks which workers and their families are protected against occur, benefits are paid as an earned right. In other words, in exchange for a moderately modest premium payment, the insurer assumes the risk that would otherwise have to be borne by the individual and his or her family. National support, by definition, involves the use of a “means test,” and social support does not. Here, in brief, is how such programs are generally structured. Utilizing social principles, the population pool their resources, thereby enabling them to share their risks (Dyson et al 44).

In sum, population care, composition and population control are complex problems requiring national concern and international support. Special attention should be paid to disease and epidemics management and environmental problems. Given such complexities, the plans are open to many countries about how they work. Many consider them the finest examples of effective program implementation action; others view them as shell games and sources of inequities. National and social benefits must be assigned to certain social groups and revenues raised. How these national programs and taxes are structured-that is, deciding who benefits from and who pays for transfers–is the concern on which much national policy debate centers. The national programs escaped this problem for a long time because of unexpected growth in the number of population in India working and unexpected increases in wage rates, combined with relatively prudent expansions in the benefit levels and careful monitoring of the plan’s financing.

Works Cited

Dyson, T., Cassen, R., Visaria, L. Twenty-First Century India: Population, Economy, Human Development, and the Environment. Oxford University Press, USA, 2004.

Nutrition, as an integral part of the health care paradigm, has been frequently associated with various socio-economic factors that contribute to people’s access to nutrition and behavioral patterns. In order to define possible regularities in terms of the population’s nutrition, socio-economic status, health conditions, and perceived health status, various researchers conduct empirical studies with the help of specifically tailored surveys and assessment tools. The study discussed in the present paper will concern the notion of nutrition in the context of the elderly population in the slum dwellings of India (Khole 353). The primary research focuses on the link establishment between Indian older adults’ nutrition and weight and their poor financial and social environment.

According to the author, the primary objective of the study was to analyze and assess the health and nutrition status among the urban slum-dwelling elderly population (Khole 356). To meet the identified objective, Khole (356) formulated two major research questions focusing on the overall nutrition level among the population and their average level of perceived health status (PHS). One of the major strengths of the present research is the author’s explicit introduction to the matter of malnutrition among the older population regardless of financial status and location because every person, with age, loses the abilities of proper metabolism and accessing meal with no external support. Having presented the relevance of the topic, Khole (356) gradually moved to the tangible aspects of the research.

Thus, when speaking of the methodology, the author decided to dwell on the survey method, the results of which were eventually interpreted through the prism of a cross-sectional descriptive study design. The study sample comprised 431 people aged 60-104 (185 males and 246 females), with mean age constituting 68.5 years (Khole 358).

The data was gathered with the help of an exhaustive structured questionnaire, encompassing such notions as gender, age, education, diseases, perceived health status, anthropometry (weight, height, and BMI), and nutrition status. Each of the categories obtained an extensive list of variables. On the one hand, such a variety was beneficial for the overall research and establishment of relevant tendencies in the field. On the other hand, such an extensive category list makes it confusing in terms of responding to the two central research questions presented earlier.

In the result discussion section, the author presented the findings of a similar study conducted in the rural area (Khole 360). Considering the fact that the results of this study indicated a strong connection between one’s health status and nutrition, Khole (362) was willing to either criticize or justify such a hypothesis with his study. The comparison introduced was, by all means, beneficial in the context of result interpretation, providing the recipient with a perspective.

The results of the study indicated no explicit correlation between one’s health condition or educational background and the level of nutrition. It is imperative to mention that out of 100% of the respondents, only 37% had normal nutrition status, and out of this 37%, the majority of respondents perceived their health status as average (Khole 361). Interestingly enough, the vast majority of overweight respondents also defined their health status as average.

Thus, it may be concluded that the study indicates an explicit gap between people’s access to proper nutrition and perceived health status. The authors recommend comparing these results with the empirical studies conducted in other city parts in order to obtain a better perspective on the issue. Having taken this data into consideration, it may be concluded that the present study, while raising quite an important matter in terms of public health research, does not obtain much insightful information due to its eagerness to capture as much data as possible within one study.

Work Cited

Khole, Chaitra. “Perceived Health Status and Nutrition Status among Slum-Dwelling Elderly in Pune City.” Indian Journal of Gerontology, vol. 34, no. 3, 2020, pp. 353–367.

Introduction

The role of diet in modulating the health is an important factor in the society. With the available diet formulations in hand, a plethora of changes have been under consideration to improve the delicacy and nutrient quality of food. The taste inducing components like salt and sugar have central role to influence the diet habits and hygiene. They may be consumed in a moderate degree to a high amount. But it is unknown whether the beneficial or the harmful effects of high consumption could lead to health problems directly or indirectly. It is well known that the intake of any dietary compound above the recommended dose would be harmful.

But this may need a scientific evidence for reliable, trustworthy information. Therefore, the present description is concerned with highlighting about the importance of low or reduced salt consumption among population keeping in view of its adverse health affects. Salt is known to be available as sodium chloride or table salt has tremendous influence in terms of its ecoeconomic and physiological influence in the society (Lozada et al., 2007).

This is because of its appetite inducing properties (Lozada et al., 2007).However, salt has been a priority component for health of individuals as its high intake was likely to contribute to problems like the development of hypertension (Lozada et al., 2007). It was also known to be the leading causative factor for the morbidity in both developed and developing countries. As such, there is a further need to explore the literature keeping in view of fortification of food by mandatory and voluntary strategies, promotion of supplements and general education.

Policy Background

Firstly, there is a need to focus on food fortification because there is a connection between excessive iodination of salt (40 to 100 mg/kg) and increased prevalence of chronic autoimmune thyroiditis and iodine-induced hyperthyroidism, according to a Brazilian study (Medeiros-Neto, 2009).

Similarly, there has been much emphasis on this issue as earlier policy makers attempted to signify the importance of food fortification due to the risk of iodine induced hyperthyroidism (IIH) (www.daa.asn.au). They believe that mandatory fortification of food could regulate the iodine content if allowed to increase gradually in different stages. The ultimate objective is to guarantee a safer increase in iodine levels of food in a more reliable manner. Dietary paradigms are in progress to study the influence of mandatory programs and voluntary iodine fortification strategies.

A study has been conducted to better understand the iodine content in foods after the introduction of mandatory iodine fortification program (Rasmussen et al., 2007). Here, rye breads, wheat breads and salt samples were considered for the study to determine the increase in iodine intake due to the fortification. It was revealed that iodization was successful in nearly 98% of the rye breads and 90% of the wheat breads were iodized. The iodine intake in breads was only 13-43 microg/day (Rasmussen et al., 2007). This study may help us to analyse the amount of iodine present in a given supplement like bread. However, this study may seem to reflect the increase in intake of iodine in the fortification program.

According to the Heart Foundation’s Tick Program, salt reduction in the food supply would be possible by setting the sodium limits for the approval in various food categories including bread and margarines (www.daa.asn.au). It was anticipated that the restrictions would encourage manufacturers to lessen the sodium levels in food supplements (www.daa.asn.au). Surveillance studies from French Food safety agency (AFSSA) on salt content revealed that food groups like breakfast cereals, some soups na and some cheeses had lower salt content when compared to bread , ready to eat meals that have high salt content ( WHO bulletin ).

This could indicate that the food fortification programs need to be strictly monitored keeping in view of the salt content present in variety of food products. A voluntary program may better help the population to understand the risk benefit ration inherent in a fortified food.

It was widely accepted that in order to achieve a reduced salt consumption among people, salt iodization need to be given paramount importance (WHO report, 2007). This is because salt iodization minimizes the risk of iodine deficiency disorder (IDD) (WHO report, 2007). There are two approaches to manage this problem. Iodine supplementation which is achievable by oral administration of slow- release preparation such as iodized salt once a year and iodine fortification of foods, generally salt (WHO report, 2007).

In most countries, there are strategies aimed to reduce salt intake on a population wide basis which is one of the component of nutritional policy and disease prevention policy (WHO report, 2007).These include salt labeling regulation, consumers’ awareness campaigns, developmental symbols to identify low salt products, agreements with the food industry to lower the salt content of a wide range of products, and monitoring sodium content of food (WHO report, 2007).

Next, there is a need to implement educational campaigns to guarantee that the sufficient consumption of iodine would not interfere with the standard health recommendations to minimize the blood pressure by the reduction of dietary salt intake. Here it was believed that countries like Australia, most women are unable to meet their standard iodine requirements during the period of pregnancy or lactation. Hence, a well planned, targeted educational campaign highlighting the significance of the use of vitamin supplements that contain iodine and folate was considered vital in ensuring that iodine requirements are met during pregnancy and lactation. Educational messages also need to be developed for those population groups who hardly consume bread.

Therefore, policies targeting the reduction of dietary salt consumption need to be implemented in the area of food production through the development of products and meals without the addition of salt or with the minimum content of sodium, changes in the environment that guarantees that the healthier food items are the easiest choice for the consumer (e.g. through system of a clear labeling of all processed foods and meals) and through wide and active health promotion and consumer education (in all population groups) (WHO report, 2007).

The promotional strategies should be such that the utility of iodized salt as an ingredient in a given food of choice like bread should not contribute to the hindrances for the promotion of dietary guidelines on reduced salt consumption. The strategies should rather be able to produce reduced salt processed foods with adequate amounts of iodine to help improve the iodine status of whole population. It was reported that mandatory fortification program would allow the intake of iodine in a more regulated manner and the gradual increase at the level to ensure iodine sufficiency, with the objective of alleviating the risk of IIH.

In contrast, a voluntary fortification program was reported to emphasize on monitoring at several levels like iodine in salt, iodine in the food with iodised salt and of iodine intake and thyroid disorders in the population before and during the fortification period. Next, the interference of stakeholders would accelerate the progress of various policy options on salt intake. The stakeholders may be ministry of health-public health, national food safety agencies/ public health institutes, ministry of education- interventions in schools and universities, research universities and academia, ministry of science and technology, ministry of information and communication, regional and local governments, municipalities, schools, hospitals and prisons administrations, legislators, public food an nutrition research institutes (WHO report, 2007).

From the private sector, food and non alcoholic beverage producers, spices, condiments, sauces and food preservative producers, catering industry, restaurants and bars, special interest groups ( industry groups, business, trade organizations), apex organizations of commercial groups, commercial sector organizations, commercial sector, salt producers and miners, retailers, advertising industry, private schools and hospital administrations, media and press (WHO report, 2007). Others include community groups, health promotion organizations, food safety organizations, health professional associations, education organizations, parent teacher associations, micronutrient interest groups etc (WHO report, 2007). At the international level, the stake holders are, WHO, UNICEF, Codex Alimentarius, European Commission, Regional economic groupings, international research institutes (WHO report, 2007).

Analysis of policy approach

There is a need to analyze the available policy options by considering the following principles. The policies or interventions that are worth implementing should not be authorized without the inclusion of mechanism for regular evaluation (WHO report, 2007). Monitoring and evaluation should be incorporated into the planning, design and implementation process and appropriate budget should be included for evaluation activities (WHO report, 2007).

Monitoring and evaluation should programs need to be defined during the program design which would help in facilitating the availability of baseline data and planning of the initial surveys/ assessments such that they would be used for monitoring in the future. There help of statisticians, economists for cost –benefit and cost –effectiveness analysis, programme manager for determining the risk should be evaluated. The results obtained from the evaluation need to be spread in the community (WHO report, 2007). Further, the policies and interventions should include process evaluation to determine whether the implemented program is planned (WHO report, 2007).

This would enable the stakeholders to identify the limitations and improve the implementation of policies by identifying, testing and implementing corrective measures (WHO report, 2007).

Similarly, there is a need to evaluate the outcome to determine whether the proposed outcomes have been obtained as result of the policy implementation (WHO report, 2007).

The results from this outcome evaluation strategy need to be utilized as a tool for advocacy and raising awareness, particularly of key decision and policy- makers(WHO report, 2007).. Finally, during the evaluation process, ongoing activities need to be considered and efforts should be made to harmonize with them and other programs, existing institutions, earlier data and available indicators (WHO report, 2007).

However, there is also a need to determine the adverse affects of high salt intake on health in order to understand the significance of policy options and their analyses.

It was reported that a condition known as Hypernatremia was strongly linked to high sodium intake although occurrence rates are low (Moder and Hurley,1990)There were nearly 30 patients (10 adult and 20 pediatric cases) reported with exogenous salt intake who had hypernatremia (Moder and Hurley,1990) Here, initial serum sodium concentration and the age of patient were considered to be the most important prognostic indicators (Moder and Hurley,1990).In certain situations this condition could also lead to death which is the case with old patients of nearly 41 year (Moder and Hurley,1990). In contrast, the survival rates are much better for very young patients and those with lesser degrees of hypernatremia (Moder and Hurley, 1990).

Hence this report has suggested the indications that are likely to occur following an imbalanced salt intake. Selmer et al. (2000) described the importance of strategies intended to minimize daily salt consumption at the rate of 6 g per person in a Norwegian study. Much emphasis was given to programs like health promotion (information campaigns), declaration of salt content in food and taxes on salty food/subsidies of products with less salt and development of new industry food recipes (Selmer et al., 2000).

They have also monitored blood pressure and other parameters like cost of the interventions welfare losses from taxation of salty food / subsidizing of food products with little salt, cost of avoided myocardial infarction and stroke treatment, cost of avoided antihypertensive treatment, hospital costs in additional life years and productivity gains from reduced morbidity and mortality (Selmer et al., 2000). They have found that a reduction in systolic blood pressure than 2 mm Hg would save the cost that would be incurred by high salt intake. Hence, it was mentioned that strategies to lessen the salt intake are having good future implications on public health and costs (Selmer et al., 2000).

Reducing Salt consumption has also been connected to a decreased risk for cardiovascular disease (Dickinson and Havas, 2007). It was reported that in many populations salt consumption was directly related to the prevalence of hypertension associated with level of blood pressure, and the gradual rise in blood pressure with age (Dickinson and Havas, 2007).This was revealed in a random controlled study where the majority of sodium consumption was found to be obtained from the quantities added during food processing and preparation (Dickinson and Havas, 2007).The intake of sodium has become a much concern and to this end approximately 6000 mg of salt equivalent to 2400 mg or less was recommended by scientific organizations and governmental authorities (Dickinson and Havas, 2007).

This resulted in a decrease in overall blood pressure distribution. The main reason would be that a low intake of 1.3-g/d would convert into nearly 5-mm Hg smaller rise in systolic blood pressure as an individual’ age increases from 25 to 55 years of age (Dickinson and Havas, 2007).This would drastically lead to a decrease, enough to save 150,000 lives per year. Hence, there is need of stringent rules in order to meet the hygienic requirement of lower sodium concentrations in processed and prepared foods (Dickinson and Havas, 2007).

This could be achieved with a concerted effort from food industries, consumer education and awareness regarding the use of food labels keeping in view of the consequences of high salt intake (Dickinson and Havas, 2007).

Next, it was reported that diet enriched with salt has links with evolutionary norms (Frassetto et al., 2008). This is the case with a typical American diet which contains larger amounts of foods that are metabolized to noncarbonic acids than to organic bases (Frassetto et al., 2008).However, the effect of sodium intake on health problems was better correlated with a combined sodium and potassium levels (Frassetto et al., 2008)

In other words, the inverted ratio of potassium to sodium in the diet when compared with preagricultural diets was reported to influence cardiovascular function adversely leading to hypertension and stroke (Frassetto et al., 2008).Hence, it was emphasized that diet should be modified in order to achieve its evolutionary norms where lessening the sodium chloride consumption was given the prior importance followed by encouraging the intake of potassium-rich net base-producing fruits and vegetables for maintenance of energy balance (Frassetto et al., 2008). Hence, this report has indicated the need of reducing salt consumption in a typical American diet.

It is reasonable to mention that above guidelines if followed in other countries nay help in reducing the burden of health problems associated with high salt intake. But this may in turn depend on socio-economic position.

Scientists have emphasized the association between education and food purchasing attitude and the contribution of dietary awareness to the association; connection between salaries and purchasing attitude and the contribution made by the individual perceptions about the cost of healthy food (Turrell and Kavanagh, 2006).

Analysis of policy setting

The analysis of policy setting is important as it would reveal the socio-economic differences in food purchasing attitude that are more likely to contribute to the association between socio-economic position and food and nutrient intakes and also to the socio-economic health inequalities for diet-related disease (Turrell and Kavanagh, 2006).Therefore, general population should realize the importance of socio-economic differences that might influence the dietary knowledge and concerns about the cost of healthy food (Turrell and Kavanagh, 2006).

This could help in understanding the vital relationships that ensure a future health promotion strategies aimed at minimizing health inequalities (Turrell and Kavanagh, 2006).

The intake of salt on blood pressure is an important scientific aspect to explore. This is because much of the complaints related to cardiovascular disease have roots linked with salt intake. Since the burden of disability and cardiovascular induced fatal conditions is increasing globally, much priority was given to study of blood pressure as risk factor for this disorder in developing countries (Mac Gregor and He, 2005).

The strategies highlighted were reducing dietary salt intake and enhancing the vegetables and fruit consumption. Experimental studies on blood pressure lessening have also revealed its significance in reducing the risk of strokes, heart failure and coronary heart disease (Mac Gregor and He, 2005).Drugs like Thiazide diuretics are reported to be reliable as they minimize blood pressure and have been considered to be the most widely preferred drugs of choice (Mac Gregor and He, 2005).This could be because they have the potential to enable water sodium and potassium to lose (MacGregor and He, 2005).

Hence, it can be inferred that drugs that work on the sodium -potassium channels may help in lowering blood pressure provide there is a concomitant low salt intake. This concept has strengthened a recent description that described high blood pressure is the major risk contributor of death globally which is in turn connected to High dietary salt(Mohan and Campbell, 2009).

Health care professionals play vital role as stakeholders. They have undertaken good number of population based studies in order to disseminate the research information on salt intake.

Therefore, the potential link between population-based strategy and dietary salt intake has been a considerable research policy interest in many countries. This was revealed from several animal, epidemiology and human intervention studies (Mohan and Campbell, 2009).WHO (World Health Organization) guidelines indicate that population-wide salt consumption should be lessened to less than 5 g/day(Mohan and Campbell, 2009). In order to achieve this, a joint venture program between governments, the food industry, scientific organizations and healthcare organizations is essential (Mohan and Campbell, 2009).

Similarly, it was found that in Portugal there was high salt intake diet, and prevention steps were set up to limit salt consumption in order to prevent and treat hypertensive disease and to lessen the cardiovascular risk (Polónia et al., 2006).

This was revealed when a cross-sectional study was undertaken to determine the levels of sodium, potassium and creatinine in a 24-hour urine followed by other parameters like blood pressure (BP), and pulse wave velocity (PWV) as an index of aortic stiffness in adult individuals of sustained hypertensives (HT), with regard to their routine dietary habits (Polónia et al., 2006).

In a South African study, similar efforts were put to study the diagnosis and management of hypertension keeping in view of reduction in sodium (Na(+)) intake levels and increase in potassium (K(+)) intake levels which are the critical components of blood pressure (BP) control.

They have assessed mean 24-hour urinary Na (+) and K(+) excretion rates, made a comparison with the recommended daily allowances (RDA) for Na(+) and K(+) intake in an urban, developing community (Maseko et al., 2006).

On the other hand, the workers also determined the relationship between hypertension awareness and treatment, and 24- hour urinary Na (+) and K (+) excretion rates (Maseko et al., 2006). They reported that there is dearth of connection between either hypertension awareness and treatment, and Na(+) and K(+) intake levels. Therefore, this has indicated a failure of implementing the strategies in the clinical practice in urban and developing communities for a reduced Na (+) and increased K (+) intake in hypertensives (Maseko et al., 2006). Further, it was reported that sodium chloride present in salt has the potential to produce 50 – 100 % of acidosis of the diet which could be considered as a typical net acid-producing diet (Frassetto et al., 2007).This is an index that reflects steady-state renal net acid excretion rate (NAE) (Frassetto et al., 2007).

Here the parameters that are analyzed are blood hydrogen ion concentration ([H]b), plasma bicarbonate concentration ([HCO(3)(-)]p), the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (Pco(2)), the urinary excretion rates of Na, Cl, NAE, and renal function as measured by creatinine clearance (CrCl) (Frassetto et al., 2007).The results indicated the diet loads of NaCl and net acid predict systemic acid-base status in an independent manner in healthy individuals.

The increase in load produces increasing degrees of low-grade hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis (Frassetto et al., 2007).Hence the intake of salt need to be strictly monitored and regulated in population suspected of acidosis.

He and Mac Gregor (2009) reported that salt reduction programs that are in progress keeping in view of global incidence of mortality rates caused by Cardiovascular disease (CVD). Here, smoking, raised blood pressure (BP) and cholesterol were considered as the major risk factors (He and Mac Gregor, 2009). It was revealed that high BP constituted for 62% of strokes and 49% of coronary heart disease. The adverse affects of high salt intake has also shed light on left ventricular hypertrophy and renal disease, obesity through soft drink consumption, associated with renal stones and osteoporosis and stomach cancer(He and Mac Gregor,2009).

Much priority was given in advanced countries by strategies focusing on reduction in salt intake by monitoring amount of salt added to food by the food industry (He and Mac Gregor,2009). In contrast, in low economic or developing countries cooking or sauces contribute to the important sources of salt consumption. Hence, a population based general health campaigns would be required to encourage consumers to restricted salt diet (He and Mac Gregor, 2009).

So, the countries that implemented programs on reduced salt intake are Japan (1960-1970), Finland (1975 onwards) and recently the United Kingdom(He and Mac Gregor,2009).The ultimate aim of this intervention is to successful implementation worldwide for the betterment of the mankind (He and Mac Gregor, 2009).

Recently, it was described that global consumption of salt is more than the normal accepted range of 10-20 mmol/day. Here, the sources such as cereals and baked goods were identified as the major contributor to dietary sodium intake especially in UK and US adult population. In Asian countries of Japan and China, salt addition at cooking and soy sauce were considered as the major sources (Brown et al., 2009).The mean sodium intakes are >100 mmol/day, and for many Asian countries the mean intakes are >200 mmol/day.

The countries that are excluded in this category are Cameroon, Ghana, Samoa, Spain, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda and Venezuela (Brown et al., 2009).This is because the strategies that were implemented are far below the national standards to represent. However, sodium added in manufactured foods is very high in European and Northern American countries (Brown et al., 2009). This may indicate that, the policy setting has improved only in some countries.

There were unusually increased sodium intakes globally contributing to the rising prevalence of salt induced problems (Brown et al., 2009).Sources of dietary sodium vary largely worldwide. Hence, policy makers should focus on the principal source of dietary sodium in the various populations in order to reduce salt consumption among population (Brown et al., 2009). Next, there is also a need to determine the connection between dietary salt and fluid intake (He, Marrero & Mac Gregor, 2008).This association was emphasized in children where Sugar-sweetened soft drink consumption was reported to be linked to childhood obesity(He, Marrero & Mac Gregor, 2008).

To this end, researcher have found that a difference of 1 g/d in salt intake was associated with a difference of 100 and 27 g/d in total fluid and sugar-sweetened soft drink consumption, respectively(He, Marrero & Mac Gregor, 2008). Therefore, a decreased salt consumption might be helpful in lessening the risk of childhood obesity and its impact on sugar-sweetened soft drink consumption (He, Marrero & Mac Gregor, 2008).

This strategy could also minimize the risk of cardiovascular disease and chances of increased blood pressure (He, Marrero & Mac Gregor, 2008).There are certain issues to be answered regarding the beneficial or harmful affects of dietary sodium consumption. The important area is the field of hypertension where the high salt intake and clinical outcome are the main factors to be addressed (Thijssen, Kitzler & Levin, 2008).

Similarly, the impact of high salt intake in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is another important matter of concern (Thijssen, Kitzler & Levin, 2008).This is because it is properly known whether any risk would be associated with salt balance in CKD patients (particularly at K/DOQI stage 5) or salt-mediated pathophysiology. Hence, there is need to suggest reduced dietary salt intake in this patient population (Thijssen, Kitzler & Levin, 2008).

The other health problems likely to occur with high salt consumption are hypernatraemia in children which has poor diagnosis rate in healthy elderly persons (Orfan et al., 2004).This was when 20-year-old lady suffered of post-natal depression and consumed large amount of salt as part of exorcism ritual. She ultimately developed fatal salt poisoning (Orfan et al., 2004). The findings are highest ever documented serum sodium level of 255 mmol L(-1), associated with severe neurological impairment (Orfan et al., 2004).

The patient condition was not recovered even after a aggressive hypotonic fluid replacement. This case had drawn the attention of scientists and this had led to a review of extensive medical literature and retrieval of 16 previous cases of severe hypernatraemia in adults secondary to excessive salt ingestion (Orfan et al., 2004).The most common symptoms were underlying cognitive or psychiatric disorders in nearly 95 % of females (Orfan et al., 2004).

Therefore, the utility of salty beverages as emetics or as part of ‘exorcism’ rituals need to be strictly controlled with awareness programs with special emphasis on risk contributing actors (Orfan et al., 2004). Salt consumption is better associated with the function of kidneys (Krzesinski and Cohen, 2007). This is because their contribution is central in regulating the salt balance and blood pressure (Krzesinski and Cohen, 2007).

In most patients with hypertension salt sensitivity is known to occur either acquired or genetically predisposed in nearly 50% of patients with essential hypertension (Krzesinski and Cohen, 2007).

As such, this tendency would contribute to increased risk for cardiovascular disorders. Here, salt levels are tightly regulated which is a good hygienic sign which is in turn associated with high potassium intake (Krzesinski and Cohen, 2007). The confined salt levels are important to control the blood pressure in patients responding to antihypertensive drugs. This also enables the need of repeated prescription of medication otherwise required for restoring a normal blood pressure. It was described that the maximal salt intake should be within 6 grams/day (NaCl) (Krzesinski and Cohen, 2007). Therefore, it is the responsibility of food industries that supply processed food to meet the regular demands of dietary salt, to play important role in minimizing the risk for cardiovascular disease (Krzesinski and Cohen, 2007).

However, there is also a need to connect this part of description with the plasma sodium concentrations (He et al., 2005). This is because individuals with high blood pressure have a faulty mechanism to expel the salt levels out of the body (He et al., 2005).The ultimate result is the ability of kidneys to retain sodium levels and an increase in blood pressure becomes a compulsory event (He et al., 2005).Researchers have described a fall in plasma sodium which was found to be correlated with the fall in systolic blood pressure (He et al., 2005).

Therefore, a rise or fall in the dietary salt levels would lead to corresponding changes in plasma sodium which in turn induces changes in extracellular volume, which may influence blood pressure (He et al., 2005). On the whole, cross-country analysis at Child care, nephrology and cardiovascular settings may help in the thorough analysis of policies under implementation.

Recommendations for policy

In view of the above information, there are certain decisions to be taken or recommended. Initially, there is a need to implement the mandatory utility of iodised salt in most breads, but it is also important to ensure that the significance of reducing salt intake is communicated precisely to both the food industry and consumers in any manner about the use of iodised salt. There is a need to guarantee that the accompanying educational campaign neither promotes nor requires the use of added salt at the table and/or cooking. They should also ensure that supplements and other sources are promoted to those for whom the mandatory use of iodised salt in bread will not ensure that they receive sufficient dietary iodine.

There is a need to carry out a long-term monitoring system to assess the impact on iodine status across various population groups regarding the mandatory use of iodised salt in bread, government should provide financial support for industries to develop alternative strategies of delivering iodine to the population.

Large population screening needs to be carried out at household levels. This requires a collaboration between health care professionals and society representatives. The utility of questionnaires, telephonic interviews is a must for obtaining concrete information from house holders. Here, much focus should be given to awareness programs on the adverse effects of salt consumption among population such that a reduced dietary salt intake should become the mandatory aspect.

Policy makers should interact with the health care researchers to assess the status of hypertension, blood pressure levels in individuals at risk of acquiring diseases like cardiovascular disease, obesity, hypernatraemia etc. The association between high salt intake and blood pressure should be highlighted on labels of food products that may gain entry into tables of domestic kitchens.

Mechanisms underlying the risk associated with high salt intake need to be thoroughly studied to understand the pathogenesis of salt induced unhygienic conditions. Various biochemical parameters, for example, plasma sodium levels, that give a direct index of salt consumption need to be determined. The need of nephrologists should not be overlooked. This is because of the strong connection between the salt metabolism and kidneys.

The recommendations or guidelines issued by food authorities need to be thoroughly followed by the food industries keeping in view of the accepted range of sodium intake. Therefore, the reduction of salt consumption among population would become reality provided cross-nation studies are carried out, data interpreted and intervening programs implemented from the grass root level.

References:

Brown, IJ, Tzoulaki, I, Candeias, V, Elliott, P. (2009). ‘Salt intakes around the world: implications for public health’ Int J Epidemiol, 38(3):791-813.

Dickinson, BD, Havas, S. (2008). ‘Reducing the population burden of cardiovascular disease by reducing sodium intake: a report of the Council on Science and Public Health.’ Arch Intern Med, 168(3):332.

Dietary association of Australia Submission to FSANZ re P230 Iodine Fortification (2005). Web.

Frassetto, LA, Morris, RC Jr, Sebastian, A. (2007).’Dietary sodium chloride intake independently predicts the degree of hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis in healthy humans consuming a net acid-producing diet’. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol, 293(2):F521-5.

Frassetto, LA, Morris, RC Jr, Sellmeyer, DE, Sebastian, A. (2008). ‘Adverse effects of sodium chloride on bone in the aging human population resulting from habitual consumption of typical American diets.’ J Nutr, 138(2):419S-422S.

He, FJ, MacGregor, GA (2009). ‘A comprehensive review on salt and health and current experience of worldwide salt reduction programmes.’ J Hum Hypertens, 23(6):363-84.

He, FJ, Markandu, ND, Sagnella, GA, de Wardener, HE, Mac Gregor, GA. (2005). ‘Plasma sodium: ignored and underestimated’. Hypertension, 45(1):98-102.

He, FJ, Marrero, NM, MacGregor, GA. (2008). Salt intake is related to soft drink consumption in children and adolescents: a link to obesity? Hypertension,51(3):629-34.

Krzesinski, JM, Cohen, EP. (2007). ‘Salt, the kidneys, and arterial hypertension’. Acta Clin Belg 62(5):348-57.

Lozada, M, Sánchez-Castillo, CP, Cabrera Gdel, A, Mata, Pichardo-Ontiveros, E, James WP. (2007). ‘Salt: its goodness and perversities’. Rev Invest Clin, 59(5):382-93.

Mac Gregor, GA, He, FJ.(2005). Importance of controlling blood pressure. Climacteric. 3:13-8.

Maseko, MJ, Majane, HO, Milne, J, Norton, GR, Woodiwiss, AJ. (2006). ‘Salt intake in an urban, developing South African community’. Cardiovasc J S Afr, 17(4):186-91.

Medeiros-Neto, G.Iodine nutrition in Brazil: where do we stand? Arq Bras Endocrinol Metabol,53(4):470-4.

Moder, KG and Hurley, DL. (1990). ‘Fatal hypernatremia from exogenous salt intake: report of a case and review of the literature.’ Mayo Clin Proc, 65(12):1587-94.

Mohan, S, Campbell, NR. (2009). ‘Salt and high blood pressure.’ Clin Sci (Lond), 117(1):1-11.

Ofran, Y, Lavi, D, Opher, D, Weiss, TA, Elinav, E.(2004). ‘Fatal voluntary salt intake resulting in the highest ever documented sodium plasma level in adults (255 mmol L-1): a disorder linked to female gender and psychiatric disorders’. J Intern Med, 256(6):525-8.

P1003 AWASH submission May 2008. Web.

Pearson, AM and Wolzak, AM (1982). ‘Salt-its use in animal products- a human health dilemma.’ J Anim Sci, 54(6):1263-78.

Polónia, J, Maldonado, J, Ramos, R, Bertoquini, S, Duro, M, Almeida, C, Ferreira, J, Barbosa, L, Silva, JA, Martins, L. (2006). ‘Estimation of salt intake by urinary sodium excretion in a Portuguese adult population and its relationship to arterial stiffness.’ Rev Port Cardiol, 25(9):801-17.

Reducing salt intake in population: report of a WHO forum and technical meeting, 2006,Paris, France.

Selmer, RM, Kristiansen, IS, Haglerod, A, Graff-Iversen, S, Larsen, HK, Meyer, HE, Bonaa, KH, Thelle, DS. (2000). ‘Cost and health consequences of reducing the population intake of salt. J Epidemiol Community Health, 54(9):697-702.

Thijssen, S, Kitzler, TM, Levin, NW. (2008). Salt: its role in chronic kidney disease.J Ren Nutr,18(1):18-26.

Turrell, G, Kavanagh, AM.(2006). ‘Socio-economic pathways to diet: modelling the association between socio-economic position and food purchasing behavior.’ Public Health Nutr, 9(3):375-83.

Urban planning is needed for facing the issue of the rapidly growing population, climate changes, as well as unsustainable manufacturing and consumption. Through the use of urban planning, it is possible to design, control, and manage the layout of the urban and suburban areas. Furthermore, it is possible to analyze the compatibility of land uses or negotiate the outcomes of such use; assess current trends with regards to environmental, social, and economic factors. The responsibilities of urban planners may vary between jurisdictions (sometimes they can vary even within the coverage of one jurisdiction). However, the key obligations are related to land use and regional planning, strategic urban planning, renewal and preservation of heritage, transportation, and environmental planning, economic development, urban design, and infrastructure planning.

The key ramification for more rubber on the road is the reduction of cases of vehicle crashes due to its durability and safety. However, there are other reasons for why rubberized roads can be beneficial for urban planning. For example, a rubberized surface has noise reduction qualities. Apart from absorbing more sound, a rubberized road surface will be more environmentally friendly since it is often produced from scrap tires taken from landfill disposals. Moreover, rubberized road surfaces are much more cost-effective and could cost from thirty to fifty percent less to be produced compared to conventional asphalt surfaces. It requires less maintenance, which is another ramification for using more rubber on the roads.

System Dynamics modeling is widely used by urban planners to get a better understanding of different behaviors and processes that occur within cities for extended time periods. System Dynamics models for urban planning can become significant components for predetermining future political decisions. For example, when such models reflect certain features of a city, they can be used as guides in urban planning policies. The extensions of System Dynamics models can also be used for resolving specific issues that concern the urban areas, like, for example, social integration or education. Lastly, system dynamics can provide urban planners with a better understanding of how different characteristics of the city interact and affect one another.

Placemaking is a valuable approach for capitalizing on the assets of a local community in order to create public spaces for promoting health and overall wellbeing. With regard to urban planning, the concept of smart growth is also currently on the rise due to the need to reduce the impact of industrialization and ensure that cities are being developed in a ‘smart’ way. Placemaking and smart growth are useful tools for urban planners that can implement compact building design, create safe neighborhoods, preserve natural resources, and protect the most important environmental areas such as lakes, rivers, and forests. By combining placemaking and smart growth, urban planners will be able to build and expand cities without a threat to the environment but with a significant benefit for the community.

If to compare European practices of urban planning with the American procedures, the key difference is that European cities manage to stay compact while dealing with development, expansion, and the increase of population. On the other hand, while the population in the U.S. does not grow as rapidly as in other countries, the territory of built-up land increases with each year. For example, in 20 years, the population of Chicago increased by only four percent when the built-up land in the urban and suburban areas increased by forty-six percent. The reason for the distinction between European and American practices is the fact that European municipalities are more independent, so the decisions to expand are made on a lower governmental level; smaller budgets contribute to smarter development solutions as well. Another practice of urban planning spread in some European cities relates to the establishment of joint ownership plans through the involvement of private stakeholders interested in preserving the architectural integrity of the city with the help of smart urban planning.

The city of Phoenix is currently dealing with the process of planning and restructuring of the way the urban area will develop and grow. The key components of the plan include the future smart land use, transportation, safe housing, and neighborhoods, as well as natural resources. The issues surrounding the new developments in the city of Phoenix include the necessity to deal with the rapid growth of built-up land while implementing smart adjustments to urban life in the city. Moreover, the issue of finance limits the implementation of the plan (to proceed with the General Plan, voters were asked to approve the budget proposal for thirty-two billion dollars). It is expected that the population of Phoenix will double in numbers in twenty years, so it is crucial for the city to be prepared for the changes and look into smart growth for preserving natural resources and using the land in such a manner that would be the most beneficial for the community.

General plans refer to the policies connected with the acceptable usage of land within a specific jurisdiction. Therefore, every city or state (county) creates, adopts, and updates a General Plan for the region in order to monitor and regulate the development of the land within a specific period of time. Overall, general plans are created for guiding a city or a county towards the achievement of the goals and objectives regarding the smart use of land. Furthermore, such plans are also beneficial for establishing a unified framework for approaching various activities (zoning, smart growth, placemaking, etc.) in a way that would be the most effective and beneficial for the region as a whole. When discussing general plans, it is important to mention Green General Plans as measures for promoting sustainable practices that will be implemented by the entire community.

Values and visions of Regional Planning usually coincide with the goals of creating a region that will fulfill the needs and the desires of the community. Through the identification of available assets, specific characteristics, and objectives for the future, the community is able to implement the most appropriate practices for efficient growth. The key objective of a Regional Plan for a specific community is the articulation of what citizens value the most. By determining the core beliefs and ideas, the region will work on the preservation of those practices that the community already values while trying to develop new practices that will be beneficial in the long run. Since Regional Planning is a broader-scaled type of urban planning, the core values and visions revolve around the smart usage of the land, preservation of natural resources, the achievement of sustainability, protection of farmlands, and the optimization of infrastructure within the cities.

The name Hispanic has been branded with more traditional viewpoints, and the term Latino has been linked with more liberal politics. This is partly because Hispanic is an English word meaning “belonging to ancient Spain.” The U.S. census bureau has determined to settle on one term, Hispanic.

The Hispanic population represents the largest minority group in the United States. The 45.5 million Hispanics in the United States in 2007 include 15.1% of the entire population. California (13.2 million) has the largest Hispanic population of any state, followed by Texas (8.6 million) and Florida (3.8 million). It is guessed that Hispanics will represent 30% of the U.S. population by 2050 (Martin 30).

Nearly two-thirds (64%) of the U.S’s Hispanics are of Mexican ancestry. Another 9% are of Puerto Rican social heritage, with 3.4% Cuban, 3.1% Salvadoran, and 2.8% Dominican. The rest are of Central American and South American origin. More than three-fourths of Hispanics reside in the West or South.

The Hispanic populace is more different than it was in the past. U.S. Hispanics of Mexican ancestry – the largest Hispanic group- has been increasing considerably. Another fast increasing group, in percentage terms, is the group of “other” Hispanics. Many of those who select “Other Spanish/ Hispanic / Latino” on the U.S. survey form are immigrants from the Central or South America. “Other” Hispanics also comprise an increasing number of people with multinational backgrounds who do not recognize with a particular country or region of origin.

Hispanics are not a very well understood part of the population. First, no one knows precisely how many Hispanics have crossed the boundary from Mexico as illegal immigrants. Second, many Americans of Hispanic ancestry do not classify themselves as Hispanic on survey forms and are not counted as such.

People born in Latin America can be spotted all across the United States, but most live in only a few areas. The difference is the place of birth. For example, 75% of U.S. residents born in the Caribbean live either in the New York or the Miami metro areas. More than half of those born in Mexico live in the Los Angeles area or in Florida or Texas.

Interestingly, while the immeasurable majority of Hispanics come from rural areas, 90% settle in America’s industrial cities and surrounding suburbs. Living together in closely united communities, they share a common language and customs. However, distinction in the number of racial discrimination Latinos experience depends on the socioeconomic position of immigrant parents and their ethnic form.

Also, those whose parents migrated as high-skilled immigrants do not experience as much discrimination, while those Latinos with darker complexion go through more racial inequity than those who look whiter (white Hispanics experience less favoritism and black Hispanics experience the most) (Martin 57).

Hispanic Americans are to a less extent, generally included in conventional American culture, but because a great number of them are ethnically white, the tribal difficulties to exogamy with whites are less (Martin 56).

Lastly, with the Latin resettlement to the north, the United States has gone through the largest migration in its history. Around one half of Hispanic residents in the United States were born in a foreign country.

Newcomers to the United States started their settlement with many economic and educational drawbacks compared to the average American; more than half have not graduated from high school and most are unskilled. With the low turnout in education among the Hispania’s, the parts of society where they have excessively reach a desired goal are music and sports.

Works Cited

Martin, Marger. Race and Ethnic Relations: American and Global Perspectives. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.

The Transnational Tamils in Sri Lanka are a section of Tamilians pushing for the creation of an independent Tamil-dominated nation in the north and east of the country. They have been agitating for autonomy and secession ever since Sri Lanka obtained independence from Britain. Significant populations of the ethnic group also reside in countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, India, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Malaysia, Netherlands and Denmark.

The ethnic group has been native to the region from the 2nd Century BCE, having originated from Tamil Nadu in Southern India. Segments of the community migrated south into Sri Lanka and soon became the most prosperous, owing to their exposure to success in India. At the peak of their power in the 12th to 14th century, a powerful dynasty, now remembered as the Jaffna Kingdom, ruled the northern half of Sri Lanka. Many of the Jaffna Kingdom rulers subdued the Sinhalese majority found deep within the country in the 12th to 17th centuries, with local chiefs extracting tributes from the natives.

The Transnational Tamils have been pushing for autonomy since independence from British rule in 1948. The primary cause of conflict between the Transnational Tamils and the rest of Sri Lanka stems from the switch in roles that came with the departure of the British colonialists, “(the conflict) is between a majority with a minority complex and a minority with a yearning for majority status” (Wilson, 2000, p. 55). Just as many colonists would do in other territories such as Rwanda and Burundi, Britain identified the Tamils as a pliable minority that could facilitate its colonization of the island-state and conferred its elite with favors in exchange for cooperation. As a result, the majority Sinhalese started to detest their Tamil neighbors, viewing them as traitors. Soon the tables turned as independence approached, with the Tamils ending up on the receiving end of the harsh treatment that they had once meted out on the Sinhalese.

Tamil nationalism was already growing during the 18th century as Hindus sought to limit Protestant missionaries from converting the ethnic group. These sentiments of nationalism grew further when colonialists introduced a legislative council in which all communities had equal representation. This move made the Tamils realize that their small population would disadvantage them on the national stage. The strange reality is that the Tamils and Sinhalese are actually related, “It is difficult to gauge the extent of Tamil blood among the Sinhalese and it is difficult to explain why the Sinhalese language shows the influence of Tamil so strongly, and why the Sinhalese caste-system is so similar to the caste-system of South India” (Chattopadhyaya, 1994, p. 51).

As a result, the Tamils constituted a political party named the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) to champion their rights. Soon after independence, the Sinhalese majority government started pursuing pro-Sinhalese policies at the expense of the Tamils, causing the Tamils to grow increasingly nationalistic and polarized, with conservatives joining the government and leftists moving away. As a result, the ACTC split, with half of its members joining the ruling United National Party and the other half forming the Federal party in 1949 (Wilson, 1994, p.3 ). What followed was decades of political, social and economic marginalization that increased nationalistic sentiments among the Tamils.

Sinhalese dominated governments subsequently adapted policies that further alienated the increasingly besieged Tamils, resulting in the formation of the Tamil United Liberation Front, a conglomerate of all Tamil political parties. When this new vehicle failed to obtain autonomy or independence for the Tamils, they turned to militant methods to air their grievances. The TULF had the purpose of pushing for federalism in Sri Lanka via legal and constitutional channels; its failure became the main catalyst in the formation of violent groups, later crystallizing in the Tamil Tigers. This militant organization began a massive terror campaign in 1983 to fight for Tamil autonomy and rights (Falk & Morgenstern, 2009, p. 236 ).

The sheer amount of violence applied by this group was unparalleled and led to tens of political assassinations, thousands of civilian deaths and millions of displacements. The international community condemned the terror campaign and numerous countries designated the Tigers as a terrorist group, preventing their citizens from dealing with it. The bloody campaign ended in 2009 when the Sri Lankan army concluded a three-year offensive that wiped out the Tamil Tiger’s power in the north and east of the country. This offensive also involved the use of unconventional military tactics that resulted in the international community and Diaspora Transnational Tamils accusing the Sri Lankan government of war crimes.

Today the Transnational Tamils are facing numerous challenges that have accumulated over the last six decades and caused under-development in their native regions. These problems include high insecurity and unemployment; lack of access to agricultural land among those displaced during the civil war; underdevelopment by successive governments in deliberately marginalized regions; lack of resettlement and rehabilitation options for displaced populations and discrimination.

The problems are prevalent due to the minority status of Tamils. Their relatively smaller population prevents them from significantly shifting the direction of government policies, thus the population is unable to attract progress. At the same time, the violence that the Tamil tigers waged created an environment of insecurity that became a major barrier to socio-economic progress. The nationalism that also characterized public dialogue created unnecessary tensions that prevented progress on numerous fronts. These tensions impeded development in many different regions. The hostility of the Tigers also prevented real development since they settled in enclaves that the government could not penetrate for the delivery of services.

Transnational Tamils are therefore among the poorest communities within Sri Lanka and their grievances are still unaddressed. However, the government is making efforts to resettle some displaced civilians in the northern regions previously designated as High Security Zones (HSZ). In May 2010, 12,274 citizens belonging to 3511 families resettled in the Jaffna Peninsula. These mass resettlements had the aim of returning the country to normalcy after decades of violence.

In the wider world, Transnational Tamils tend to have characteristics that are the polar opposite of their relatives in Sri Lanka. These diaspora Tamilians largely fall into three groups; the Tamils of India, Malaysia and the rest of the world. The Tamils of India, who reside largely in Tamil Nadu, are the most numerous of the lot, numbering a whopping 60 million, compared to the 3 million in Sri Lanka and 1.8 million in Malaysia (Wayland, 2007 ). They have been the force behind the socio-economic prosperity of Tamil Nadu state in India, providing an enterprising spirit that fuelled the region’s success. They tend to be less militant than their relatives in Sri Lanka and have used their talents to succeed in the arts, sciences, politics and business.

The Diaspora Tamils, who have settled around the world especially the West, tend to be more socially conscious and proactive than their Indian and Malaysian relatives, actively contributing to various causes for the self-determination of their brothers in Sri Lanka. In countries like the US and UK they have thrived in several sectors, especially finance. A significant proportion of remittances sent to In Sri Lanka usually come from diaspora Transnational Tamils keen to support their relatives back home (Skoggard, Ember & Ember, 2005, pp 492 – 500 ).

This group has been the impetus behind the creation of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) that comprises Tamilians in the diaspora who are pushing for the creation of an independent Tamil state through peaceful means. The group came about after the defeat of the militant Tamil Tigers in the civil war that ran from 1983 to 2009, “Our organization, as well as our people does not want war … we want peace and we want to resolve our problems through peaceful means” (Pirapaharan, 2003). The Sri Lankan government has termed the outfit as a secessionist movement that has terrorist tendencies.

In conclusion, the Transnational Tamils in Sri Lanka are among the most interesting multi-national ethnic groups found in South Eastern Asia due to their convoluted history, culture and influence.

Reference List

Chattopadhyaya, H. (1994). Ethnic Unrest in Modern Sri Lanka: An account of Tamil-Sinhalese Race Relations. New Delhi: M.D. Publications.

Falk, O., & Morgenstern, H. (2009 ). Suicide Terror: Understanding and Confronting the Threat. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons.

Pirapaharan, V. (2003). Tamil Eelam Homepage. Web.

Skoggard, I., Ember, C. R., & Ember, M. (2005 ). Encyclopedia of Diasporas : Immigrant and Refugee Cultures around the World. New York: Springer.

Wayland, S. (2007 ). Transnational Nationalisms : Sri Lankan Tamils in Canada. In L. Goldring, Organizing the Transnational : Labour, Politics and Social Change (pp. 55 – 67). Vancouver: UBC Press.

Wilson, A. J. (1994). S.J.V. Chelvanayakam and the Crisis of Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism, 1947-1977. London: C. Hurst & Co. Publishers.

Wilson, A. J. (2000). Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism: Its Origins and Development in the 19th and 20th Centuries. London: C. Hurst & Co. Publishers.