Less salt doesn’t necessarily lessen the risk for heart disease.

An evaluation of your nutritional needs, activity level as well as your individual health issues will help to determine how much sodium your body needs.

Nutritionists recommend a daily intake of 1.5 grams of salt for people with heart problems, a level that in this study increased the risk for cardiovascular death by 37 percent.

“It’s still important to avoid consuming too much salt,” said Andrew Mente, an author of the study and an assistant professor of epidemiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. “But people who are consuming moderate amounts may not have to decrease their intake further.”

Too many American children are obese, partly because of terrible eating habits. Fortunately the government has new standards for school lunches that can have a positive impact.

The new rules for school lunches, revealed last week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, sound laudable and sane.

Among the standards to gradually be implemented over the next three years are limiting the amount of starchy vegetables (such as potatoes, corn and green peas) to one cup a week; serving only unflavored 1 percent milk or fat-free flavored or unflavored milk; increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables — especially green, leafy vegetables — so that kids are exposed to a variety of vegetables; and requiring that half of the grains served be whole grains. Schools also have to gradually reduce the amount of sodium in meals over 10 years, with the goal of reducing it by more than half.

Parents should be happy.