Arcand
et al., (2013) [23] | Not applicable | ● 59.3% respondents reported they were currently trying to limit their sodium intake. | Not applicable |
● 72.5% of those limiting their sodium intake avoided high-salt foods. 45.9% of those limiting their salt intake did not avoid high salt foods, but thought their salt intake was lower because they do not add salt to their food. |
Charlton
et al., (2010) [24] | 24-h urinary Na excretion and three-day food record. | ● Mean salt intake measured using 24-h Na excretion: 6.4 g/day. 65% exceeded WHO recommended maximum level of 5 g. | Not applicable |
● Add salt in cooking: 68% “sometimes”. Add salt at the table: 67.5% “sometimes”. |
● Almost a third never used discretionary salt. |
Grimes
et al., (2009) [30] | Self-reported frequencies of dietary practices. | ● Purchased a product labeled “reduced salt” in the past: 70%. | In comparison to those were unaware, a higher proportion of participants were aware of the risk of hypertension (66% vs. 73%; Pearson χ2 23.12, df = 4, p = 0.001), and stroke (62% vs. 75%; Pearson χ2 18.89, df = 4, p = 0.001) with a high salt intake reported they had previously purchased reduced salt labeled products. |
Health Canada (2009) [29] | Self-reported frequencies of action taken to reduce salt intake. | 68% respondents reported they take actions to control their salt intake. Among actions reported taken to reduce salt intake are: | Not applicable |
● Do not add salt when cooking (42%). |
● Do not add salt at the table (39%). |
● Avoid/Minimize consumption of processed foods (24%). |
● Look at Nutrition Facts Tables on food (21%). |
● Monitor use of salty foods (19%). |
● Buy low salt and low sodium foods (15%). |
● Avoid eating out (7%). |
● Buy/cook with fresh foods (7%). |
● Buy low salt/sodium alternatives (6%). |
● Use spices other than salt when cooking (6%). |
International Food Information Council (2011) [31] | Self-reported frequencies of dietary practices. | ● Consumed a low or reduced sodium product: 74% “yes”, 10% “no” and 16% “don’t know”. | Not applicable |
● Frequency of purchasing low or reduced sodium products: 7% “usually”, 17% “often” 56% “occasionally” and 20% “never”. |
Land
et al., (2014) [33] | 24-h urinary salt excretion and self-reported frequencies of salt use at the table and in cooking. | ● Mean 24-h urinary salt excretion: 8.8 g/day. 87% exceeded WHO recommended maximum level of 5 g. | No significant difference in urinary salt excretion between those who correctly answered the following knowledge questions and those who did not: (1) maximum amount of recommended salt intake; (2) a diet high in salt can cause serious health problems; and (3) a diet high in salt causes hypertension) before or after adjustment for age, sex, body mass index and the highest level of education. |
● Add salt at the table: 52% “rarely”, 27% “sometimes”, 21% “always”. |
● Add salt in cooking: 54% “rarely”, 27% “sometimes”, 19% “always”. |
63% respondents reported they take actions to control their salt intake. Among actions reported taken to reduce salt intake are: |
● Avoid consumption of processed foods (44%). |
● Check food labels (30%). |
● Buy low salt alternatives (34%). |
● Use spices (29%). |
● Avoid eating out (20%). |
Marakis
et al., (2014) [35] | Self-reported frequencies of dietary practices. | ● Added salt in cooking: 5.8% “never”, 9.2% “occasionally”, 72.4% “always”. | Not applicable |
● Added salt at the table: 51.8% “never”, 15.1% “occasionally”, 6.2% “always”. |
● Read nutrition information on food packaging: 28.4% “never”, 24.8% “always”. |
Among actions reported taken to control salt intake are: |
● Avoid consumption of processed foods (77.6%). |
● Remove salt from foods in brine (70.3%). |
● Avoid eating added salt later or used table salt (48.7%). |
Neale
et al., (1993) [22] | Self-reported frequencies of dietary practices and food shopping behavior. | ● Frequency of eating savory snacks such as crisp and salted nuts (as crude indicator of salt taste preference): 25% “once a day or more”, 12% “5 times/week”, 23% “3 times/week”, 25% “once a week”, 15% “less than once a week”. | Not applicable |
● Purchased reduced salt products in the last one month: 65.8%, between one and three months ago: 21.7%, between four and six months ago: 12.5%. |
Newson
et al., (2013) [20] | Semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (Salt FFQ). | ● Average salt intake across all countries was 9.5 g/day. | Not applicable |
● Discretionary salt use: Add salt before tasting: 58% “never/rarely”, 19% “sometimes”, 22% “usually/always”. Findings consistent across countries. |
Sources of dietary salt intake: |
● All countries: 51% salt containing food groups (PF), 7% salt added at the table (ST); 23% salt added during cooking (SC); 17% out of home foods (OH). |
● Germany/Austria: 63% PF, 6% ST, 17% SC, 14% OH. |
● USA: 70% PF, 7% ST, 9% SC, 13% OH. |
● Hungary: 56% PF, 5% ST, 23% SC, 15% OH. |
● India: 32% PF, 10% ST, 48% SC, 10% OH. |
● China: 48% PF, 11% ST, 27% SC, 14% OH. |
● South Africa: 72% PF, 7% ST, 16% SC, 5% OH. |
● Brazil: 36% PF, 5% ST, 18% SC, 41% OH. |
Papadakis
et al., (2010) [37] | Self-reported consumption frequencies of food items which are largest contributors to Canadian’s sodium consumption and use of salt at the table and in cooking. | ● Added salt in cooking (mean frequency in the past month (±SD)): 14.3 ± 19.4 times. | Not applicable |
● Added salt at the table (mean frequency in the past month (±SD)): 11.0 ± 18.3 times. |
Sarmugam
et al., (2013) [38] | Self-reported frequencies of dietary practices. | ● Added salt in cooking: 35.1% “never/rarely”, 29.2% “sometimes”, 23.6% “usually”, 11.1% “always”. | Bivariate analysis showed salt knowledge scores was negatively correlated with salt use (r = −0.17; p < 0.001), misconceptions were positively associated with the salt use (r = 0.09; p < 0.05). No significant association was found between procedural knowledge scores and salt use. Structural equation modeling showed a negative direct effect of declarative knowledge on salt use (β = −0.12, p < 0.01). |
● Added salt at the table: 48.1% “never/rarely”, 26.2% “sometimes”, 17.0% “usually”, 8.7% “always”. |
Sarmugam
et al., (2014) [39] | Self-reported frequencies of dietary practices and food shopping behavior. | Results of the frequencies of dietary practices were not reported. | There were significant associations between the total salt knowledge scores and frequent use of salt at the table (r = −0.197, p < 0.05) and consumption of fast food (r = −0.293, p < 0.01); cooking meals from scratch/fresh ingredients (r = 0.321, p < 0.01), using herbs and spices as flavoring for cooking (r = 0.327, p < 0.01); eating fast foods and looked at salt content when shopping for food (r = 0.400, p < 0.01). |
Webster
et al., (2010) [40] | Self-reported frequencies of dietary practices. | ● Added salt during cooking: 21% “often”. | Not applicable |
● Added salt at the table: 21% “often”. |
Welsh
et al., (2014) [41] | 24-h web based dietary recall. | ● Mean salt intake measured using 24-h web based dietary recall was 8.77 g/day. | Not applicable |
● Added salt very often in cooking or preparing foods in their household: 4.2%. |
● On average, had two or more meals prepared outside of the home per week: 42.5%. |
● Consumed processed meals at least once a day: 8.5%. |
● Consumed salty snacks at least once a day: 9.6%. |
● Consumed frozen entrees at least once a day: 3.0%. |
● Consumed canned or packaged soups at least once a day: 2.3%. |
Zhang
et al., (2013) [21] | Self-reported frequencies of dietary practices used to control dietary salt intake. | 45.6% of urban and 34.8% of rural respondents reported they had taken actions to control their salt intake. Among actions reported taken to control salt intake are: | Multiple logistic regression analysis controlled for key confounders (age, gender, marital status, residence, region, and hypertension status) found practices towards sodium reduction were more likely to be taken by those who were aware that sodium intake was associated with increased blood pressure, compared to those who were not aware (OR = 2.17, 95% CI 2.01–2.34); and know the limit of salt (OR = 2.12, 95% CI 1.95–2.31). |
● Read label for salt content: 13.9% (urban), 9.7% (rural). |
● Used less salt when cooking: 96.2% (urban), 95.7% (rural). |
● Added salt later or used table salt: 27.6% (urban), 19.7% (rural). |
● Used less pickles: 54.0% (urban), 44.6% (rural). |
● Used low sodium processed foods: 21.4% (urban), 10.4% (rural). |
● Used less high sodium condiments: 24.9% (urban), 12.2% (rural). |
● Used green onion or garlic to improve the taste of food when not using salt: 20.2% (urban), 8.7% (rural). |
● Used non -sodium condiments such as vinegar: 15.1% (urban), 5.0% (rural). |