Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Av. Salvador Allende 702, Maputo, Mozambique.
EPIUnit-Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Rua das Taipas, no. 135, 4050-600, Porto, Portugal.
Eur J Clin Nutr. 2018 Dec;72(12):1690-1699. doi: 10.1038/s41430-018-0125-y. Epub 2018 Mar 27.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Health education and regulatory measures may contribute to lower population salt intake. Therefore, we aimed to describe knowledge and behaviors related to salt intake in Mozambique.
SUBJECTS/METHODS: A cross-sectional evaluation of a representative sample of the population aged 15-64 years (n = 3116) was conducted in 2014/2015, following the Stepwise Approach to Chronic Disease Risk Factor Surveillance, including a 12-question module for evaluation of dietary salt.
Three dimensions were identified in the questionnaire, named "self-reported salt intake", "knowledge of health effects of salt intake", and "behaviors for control of salt intake". A total of 7.4% of the participants perceived that they consumed too much/far too much salt and 25.9% reported adding salt/salty seasoning often/always to prepared foods. The proportion considering that it was not important to decrease the salt contents of their diet was 8%, and 16.9% were not aware that high salt intake could be deleterious for health. Prevalences of lack of behaviors for reducing salt intake ranged from 74.9% for not limiting consumption of processed foods, to 95% for not buying low salt alternatives. There were few differences according to socio-demographic variables, but awareness of hypertension was, in general, associated with better knowledge and less frequent behaviors likely to contribute to a high salt intake.
Most Mozambicans were aware that high salt intake can cause health problems, but the self-reported salt intake and behaviors for its control show an ample margin for improvement. This study provides evidence to guide population level salt-reducing policies.
背景/目的：健康教育和监管措施可能有助于降低人群的盐摄入量。因此，我们旨在描述莫桑比克人口与盐摄入量相关的知识和行为。
2014/2015 年，采用慢性病危险因素监测逐步方法，对 15-64 岁人群进行了一项具有代表性的横断面评估，包括用于评估膳食盐的 12 个问题模块。
问卷中确定了三个维度，分别命名为“自我报告的盐摄入量”、“盐摄入量对健康影响的知识”和“控制盐摄入量的行为”。共有 7.4%的参与者认为自己摄入了过多/过多的盐，25.9%的人经常/总是在准备好的食物中添加盐/咸味调味料。认为减少饮食中的盐含量不重要的比例为 8%，16.9%的人不知道高盐摄入可能对健康有害。减少盐摄入量的行为的流行率从不限制加工食品的消费（74.9%）到不购买低盐替代品（95%）不等。根据社会人口统计学变量，差异不大，但一般来说，对高血压的认识与更好的知识和不太频繁的可能导致高盐摄入的行为有关。
大多数莫桑比克人都知道高盐摄入会导致健康问题，但自我报告的盐摄入量和控制盐摄入量的行为仍有很大的改善空间。本研究为指导人群减盐政策提供了证据。
