CHICAGO (Reuters) - Americans' unhealthy eating habits will be the target of the top U.S. physicians' group next week, when it votes on resolutions calling for reducing salt in food and for taxes on sugary soft drinks.

The American Medical Association, or AMA, plans to focus on the contribution of soft drinks to the nation's obesity epidemic as well as the over-consumption of dietary salt when its 544 doctor-delegates convene the group's annual meeting.

One resolution asks the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to place stricter regulations on sodium in processed foods, fast food, and restaurant offerings and it recommends cutting salt content in foods by at least half over the next decade.

The vast majority of American adults consume more than the recommended limit of 6 grams, or a teaspoon, of salt per day.

"One of the most important things the food industry should be doing is cutting the salt, and having the AMA support changes in the way salt is regulated would be very important," said Michael Jacobsen, director of the Center for Science and the Public Interest, a health advocacy group.

A second resolution supports taxes on sugary soft drinks -- likely at the state and local level -- despite industry opposition. It calls for the revenue to go for public health programs to combat obesity, which has been labeled an epidemic by U.S. health authorities.

A soft-drink tax might also curb consumption somewhat, the AMA said, as with levies on alcohol and cigarettes.

A few cities and states levy taxes on soft drinks or junk foods that collectively raise some $1 billion a year, Jacobsen said, but earmarking tax revenue for programs promoting better diet would be a first.

Other topics to be debated at the group's annual meeting are the perennial issue of physicians' pay, as well responding to disasters, prescription drug advertising, and soliciting organ donations.

DOCTORS TREATING PATIENTS

At the meeting, the AMA will likely also hone its campaign against non-physicians treating patients without a doctor's supervision -- something that has grated on alternative providers such as nurse practitioners, psychologists, and chiropractors.     "I think at times (physicians) feel threatened that there are other practitioners that can provide safe, quality care and they are not the (only) provider of health care services and would like to maintain that authority," said Rose Gonzalez of the American Nurses Association.

The AMA's membership has declined over the years, and currently stands at 244,000, compared with some 800,000 active U.S. physicians.

In light of physicians' key role if an avian flu pandemic strikes or following natural disasters such as hurricanes, the AMA will consider a resolution asking physicians and other first responders, along with their families, be inoculated first during a pandemic.

Physicians may also demand relief from liability concerns in case of a disaster and, on a related front, seek laws that require plaintiffs who bring frivolous malpractice lawsuits to pay defendants' legal costs.

Another resolution urges the FDA to order moratoriums on advertising new drugs to allow for evaluation of side effects, in light of recent recalls.