Measuring Population Sodium Intake: A Review of Methods
Departments of Preventive and Social Medicine/Departments of Human Nutrition, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
Nutrients 2014, 6(11), 4651-4662; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu6114651
Received: 17 July 2014 / Revised: 5 October 2014 / Accepted: 14 October 2014 / Published: 28 October 2014
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Salt and Health: A Public Health Issue)
Reduction of population sodium intake has been identified as a key initiative for reduction of Non-Communicable Disease. Monitoring of population sodium intake must accompany public health initiatives aimed at sodium reduction. A number of different methods for estimating dietary sodium intake are currently in use. Dietary assessment is time consuming and often under-estimates intake due to under-reporting and difficulties quantifying sodium concentration in recipes, and discretionary salt. Twenty-four hour urinary collection (widely considered to be the most accurate method) is also burdensome and is limited by under-collection and lack of suitable methodology to accurately identify incomplete samples. Spot urine sampling has recently been identified as a convenient and affordable alternative, but remains highly controversial as a means of monitoring population intake. Studies suggest that while spot urinary sodium is a poor predictor of 24-h excretion in individuals, it may provide population estimates adequate for monitoring. Further research is needed into the accuracy and suitability of spot urine collection in different populations as a means of monitoring sodium intake.
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Keywords:
dietary sodium; population; urine; epidemiology; monitoring
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
McLean, R.M. Measuring Population Sodium Intake: A Review of Methods. Nutrients 2014, 6, 4651-4662. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu6114651
AMA Style
McLean RM. Measuring Population Sodium Intake: A Review of Methods. Nutrients. 2014; 6(11):4651-4662. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu6114651
Chicago/Turabian StyleMcLean, Rachael M. 2014. "Measuring Population Sodium Intake: A Review of Methods" Nutrients 6, no. 11: 4651-4662. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu6114651
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