TY - JOUR
T1 - Salt and Health
T2 - Survey on Knowledge and Salt Intake Related Behaviour in Italy
AU - Iaccarino Idelson, Paola
AU - D'Elia, Lanfranco
AU - Cairella, Giulia
AU - Sabino, Paola
AU - Scalfi, Luca
AU - Fabbri, Alessandra
AU - Galletti, Ferruccio
AU - Garbagnati, Francesca
AU - Lionetti, Lillà
AU - Paolella, Gaetana
AU - Simonetti, Paolo
AU - Strazzullo, Pasquale
AU - On Behalf Of The Sinu-Gircsi Working Group, null
PY - 2020/1/21
Y1 - 2020/1/21
N2 - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Excess sodium intake is a recognised causal factor of hypertension and its cardiovascular complications; there is however a lack of practical instruments to assess and monitor the level of knowledge and behaviour about dietary salt intake and to relate these factors to the population general dietary habits.METHODS AND RESULTS: A self-administered questionnaire was developed to assess the salt and health related knowledge and behaviour of the Italian population through an online survey. A sample of 11,618 Italian participants completed the questionnaire. The degree of knowledge and the reported behaviour about salt intake were both found to be related to age, gender, home region, level of education and occupation. There was a significant interrelation between salt knowledge and behaviour and both were significantly and directly related to the degree of adherence to a Mediterranean-like dietary pattern. A hierarchical evaluation was also made of the relevance of any single question to the overall assessment of knowledge and behaviour about salt intake.CONCLUSIONS: The study population overall appeared to have a decent level of knowledge about salt, but a less satisfactory behaviour. Our findings point to social inequalities and young age as the main factors having a negative impact on knowledge and behaviour about salt intake as part of generally inadequate dietary habits. The degrees of knowledge and behaviour were significantly and directly interrelated, confirming that improving knowledge is a key step for behavioural changes, and suggesting that educational campaigns are crucial for the implementation of good practices in nutrition.
AB - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Excess sodium intake is a recognised causal factor of hypertension and its cardiovascular complications; there is however a lack of practical instruments to assess and monitor the level of knowledge and behaviour about dietary salt intake and to relate these factors to the population general dietary habits.METHODS AND RESULTS: A self-administered questionnaire was developed to assess the salt and health related knowledge and behaviour of the Italian population through an online survey. A sample of 11,618 Italian participants completed the questionnaire. The degree of knowledge and the reported behaviour about salt intake were both found to be related to age, gender, home region, level of education and occupation. There was a significant interrelation between salt knowledge and behaviour and both were significantly and directly related to the degree of adherence to a Mediterranean-like dietary pattern. A hierarchical evaluation was also made of the relevance of any single question to the overall assessment of knowledge and behaviour about salt intake.CONCLUSIONS: The study population overall appeared to have a decent level of knowledge about salt, but a less satisfactory behaviour. Our findings point to social inequalities and young age as the main factors having a negative impact on knowledge and behaviour about salt intake as part of generally inadequate dietary habits. The degrees of knowledge and behaviour were significantly and directly interrelated, confirming that improving knowledge is a key step for behavioural changes, and suggesting that educational campaigns are crucial for the implementation of good practices in nutrition.
KW - Adolescent
KW - Adult
KW - Aged
KW - Diet, Healthy/psychology
KW - Feeding Behavior/psychology
KW - Female
KW - Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
KW - Humans
KW - Italy
KW - Male
KW - Middle Aged
KW - Sodium Chloride, Dietary/adverse effects
KW - Surveys and Questionnaires
KW - Young Adult
U2 - 10.3390/nu12020279
DO - 10.3390/nu12020279
M3 - Article
C2 - 31973152
VL - 12
JO - Nutrients
JF - Nutrients
SN - 2072-6643
IS - 2
ER -