engleski

Salt intake in the Croatian adult population: implications for the public health

Introduction: Excessive salt intake is the key factor in the epidemic of the pre-hypertension/hypertension. Aims: The aim of this study was to identify the amount and major food sources of dietary salt in the adult population from Eastern Croatia, and to assess the significance of salt intake from several foodstuffs presumed to be important sources of the 'hidden salt' in the daily diet. Methods: This cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted during the June 2010 and had included 175 adult participants mean age 54.0±12.5 (range 20 to 89) years from the Osijek area ; 49.1% (86/175) males and 50.9% (89/175) females. By the use of specially designed questionnaire demographic data and data concerning the potential nutritional sources of the 'hidden salt' in the daily diet were collected. The weight, height and blood pressure of each participant were measured. The values of the salt content in 23 breads, 42 bakery products and 31 different salty snacks available in Croatian market were established. The amount of salt consumed daily through the cooking, consumption of bread, bakery products and salty snacks as well as the overall daily salt consumption for each participant has been calculated. Results: The overall salt intake in observed population was 9.4±3.9 (range 3.2 to 24.7) grams of salt daily. Most (56.4%) dietary salt was from salt added in home cooking, around 29.8% was from daily consumption of bread, 12.8% was from daily consumption of various bakery products and only 0.7% from daily consumption of salty snacks. Conclusions: To prevent and control prehypertension/hypertension and improve health, efforts to remove excess salt from the diets in the Eastern part of Croatia should focus on reducing salt in home cooking but also on reducing the amount of baked products in the daily diet of its inhabitants.

adult population; dietary habits; salt; Osijek; Croatia

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