Georgios Marakis1, Antonios Katsioulis2, Lamprini Kontopoulou3, Anke Ehlers4, Katharina Heimberg4, Karen Ildico Hirsch-Ernst4, Tomaž Langerholc5, Hanna Adamska6, Ewa Matyjaszczyk7, K D Renuka Silva8, K A Chathurika Madumali8, Tai-Sheng Yeh9, Ling-Jan Chiou10, Mei-Jen Lin11, Georgios Karpetas2, Anke Weissenborn12. 1. Nutrition and Food Standards Unit, Directorate of Risk Assessment and Nutrition, Hellenic Food Authority, Athens, Greece. 2. School of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece. 3. Faculty of Nursing, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece. 4. Department of Food Safety, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Berlin, Germany. 5. Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia. 6. Institute of Economic Sciences, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland. 7. Institute of Plant Protection-National Research Institute, Poznan, Poland. 8. Department of Applied Nutrition, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, Gonawila, Kuliyapitiya, Sri Lanka. 9. Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Meiho University, Neipu, Pingtung, Taiwan. 10. Department of Health Business Administration, Meiho University, Neipu, Pingtung, Taiwan. 11. Department of Animal Science, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Neipu, Pingtung, Taiwan. 12. Department of Food Safety, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Berlin, Germany. Anke.Weissenborn@bfr.bund.de.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Strategies to reduce salt intake are encouraged to be implemented in parallel with those that aim to ensure iodine adequacy at the population level. The aim of the present study was to assess and compare knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to salt and iodine among students in Europe and Asia. METHODS: A multicentre cross-sectional study was conducted with 2459 university students in total (42.7% males, median age 21 years) from four countries in Europe and two countries in Asia. Data were collected with the use of a self-administered questionnaire, and univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were performed to explore any association between variables. RESULTS: Only 6.5% of all participants knew the correct salt recommendations. Nearly a quarter of them (24.4%) found salt recommendations confusing and/or contradictory. There were significant differences between European and Asian participants, with those from Europe being better informed about salt recommendations, but significantly less knowledgeable about iodine. The reported frequency of use of salt and salt-containing sauces either at the table or for cooking, as well as knowledge about ways to reduce salt intake among those who indicated to make conscious efforts to do so, differed significantly between countries. Significant differences between countries were also observed with respect to the type of salt used, with about one third of all participants (34%) not being aware of the kind of salt they used. CONCLUSION: The results of this survey highlight serious salt- and iodine-related knowledge gaps among university students in Europe and Asia. Raising awareness and conducting information campaigns is needed to promote changes in behaviour that would result in a reduction of salt intake and conscious use of iodised salt at the individual level.
BACKGROUND: Strategies to reduce salt intake are encouraged to be implemented in parallel with those that aim to ensure iodine adequacy at the population level. The aim of the present study was to assess and compare knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to salt and iodine among students in Europe and Asia. METHODS: A multicentre cross-sectional study was conducted with 2459 university students in total (42.7% males, median age 21 years) from four countries in Europe and two countries in Asia. Data were collected with the use of a self-administered questionnaire, and univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were performed to explore any association between variables. RESULTS: Only 6.5% of all participants knew the correct salt recommendations. Nearly a quarter of them (24.4%) found salt recommendations confusing and/or contradictory. There were significant differences between European and Asian participants, with those from Europe being better informed about salt recommendations, but significantly less knowledgeable about iodine. The reported frequency of use of salt and salt-containing sauces either at the table or for cooking, as well as knowledge about ways to reduce salt intake among those who indicated to make conscious efforts to do so, differed significantly between countries. Significant differences between countries were also observed with respect to the type of salt used, with about one third of all participants (34%) not being aware of the kind of salt they used. CONCLUSION: The results of this survey highlight serious salt- and iodine-related knowledge gaps among university students in Europe and Asia. Raising awareness and conducting information campaigns is needed to promote changes in behaviour that would result in a reduction of salt intake and conscious use of iodised salt at the individual level.
Entities:
Keywords:
Asia; Europe; Iodine; Iodised salt; Nutritional epidemiology; Salt
Authors: Andrew Mente; Martin O'Donnell; Sumathy Rangarajan; Gilles Dagenais; Scott Lear; Matthew McQueen; Rafael Diaz; Alvaro Avezum; Patricio Lopez-Jaramillo; Fernando Lanas; Wei Li; Yin Lu; Sun Yi; Lei Rensheng; Romaina Iqbal; Prem Mony; Rita Yusuf; Khalid Yusoff; Andrzej Szuba; Aytekin Oguz; Annika Rosengren; Ahmad Bahonar; Afzalhussein Yusufali; Aletta Elisabeth Schutte; Jephat Chifamba; Johannes F E Mann; Sonia S Anand; Koon Teo; S Yusuf Journal: Lancet Date: 2016-05-20 Impact factor: 79.321