National Salt Awareness Day 2005 - Survey
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Salt Survey in the older population
We conducted a pilot study to find out what the older population understands about salt and any misconceptions that they may have.
The aim of the pilot was to explore older people's perceptions of salt and salt labelling.
The survey was conducted in September 2004 at a London Pensioners Fund Conference and the Nutrition and Health Show. It used an interviewer-administered questionnaire which attendees were asked to fill in and hand back once completed.
A total of 103 people were surveyed: 28% (50-59 yrs), 28% (60-69 years), 27% (70-79 years), 5% (80-89 years), 2% (90+) and 10% that did not report their age.
There was an approximately equal distribution of men and women, 47% and 53% respectively.
Key findings:
"Nearly all (95%) knew that salt causes blood pressure to rise.
"Only 1 in 5 knew that salt is linked with osteoporosis (18%) and stomach cancer (19%).
"One in four (26%) either did not know how much salt they should be eating in a day or got the figure wrong.
"Only 70% of the older people surveyed were aware that the majority of salt comes from processed foods, compared to 100% of MPs, 89% of health professionals and 87% of teachers who were asked the same question in last year's research.
"The majority of participants were unaware of hidden salt levels in four given foods. 75% did not know that cornflakes were the saltiest of the four products.
"Only 33% of the older population are aware that salt contains sodium. This compares to 67% of MPs, 71% of teachers and 68% of health professionals asked the same question last year.
"Almost two in three 63% did not know the relationship between sodium and salt or got it wrong. There is a definite lack of understanding and knowledge about the difference between salt and sodium as 24% said that salt and sodium were exactly the same and 22% had no idea about the relationship between salt and sodium.
"The majority of respondents (69%) said that present sodium information on labels is not comprehensible.
"81% of respondents would like to see salt labelled in one of two formats, either with salt content per serving or just the salt content
For a copy of the full survey findings, please contact us at cash@sghms.ac.uk
CASH pilot study shows confusion about where salt is in the diet
As part of our focus on older people for Salt Awareness Day 2005, we wanted to ascertain whether people motivated to reduce their salt intake for health reasons were managing to keep below the 6g per day limit.
We therefore recruited 23 patients (17 men and 6 women) with hypertension who had been referred to the Blood Pressure Unit at St George's Hospital . At their first appointment all stated that they were cutting down their salt for the sake of their health or that they were eating no salt at all.
Their sodium intake was measured from 24-hour urine collection and the results showed that only 13% (3/23) of these patients actually had a salt intake of less than 6g per day. One participant had a salt intake of 23.7g - almost four times the recommended limit.
The average total sodium urine came out at 9.3g of salt and the range was between 3.7g - 23.7g of salt.
The results of this study are worrying in that it appears that the message that salt is hidden in processed food is simply not getting through to older people, even those who know that they need to reduce their salt intake because they have raised blood pressure. These patients had cut down on - or cut out - the salt they added to their food in cooking and at the table, but were unaware of the level of salt in ready-made foods.