[Salt intake knowledge and behavior among school teachers in four Chinese cities in 2014].

OBJECTIVE

To learn the knowledge level on "salt and health", and analyze the influence on related behavior among school teachers in four Chinese cities.

METHODS

The data of 2014 salt KAP among urban residents in China was used, with stratified random cluster sampling, a total of 2518(male 708, female 1810) school teachers were selected from four cities of China, including Shenyang, Wuhan, Chengdu and Guangzhou city. Self-filled questionnaire was used to collect the information on the salt intake knowledge and behavior. The statistical software package SAS version 9. 4 was used for data analysis.

RESULTS

Among the teachers in four Chinese cities, about 50. 9% of them knew the recommendation of salt intake, about 66. 6% of them knew sodium in the salt may influence health. Approximately 85. 3% of them knew eating long-term salty food may cause hypertension. The proportions of knowing salt intake among female, 40 years and older, below the undergraduate, higher family income teachers were higher than their counterparts(P<0. 05). The proportions of knowing the health influence of sodium among female, higher family income teachers were higher than their counterparts(P<0. 05). The proportions of knowing that eating long-term salty food may cause hypertension among female, undergraduate and above, higher family income teachers were higher than their counterparts(P<0. 05). About 80. 1% of them knew the nutrition labeling on the package food, about 19. 7% of them knew the nutrition labeling contents. Teachers utilized nutrition labeling differently owing to their knowledge on the labeling contents(P<0. 05). In the past three months, about 21. 4% of the teachers always use low-sodium salt when cooking, only 4. 2% of them always control their family's salt intake by using salt control spoon, about 25. 4% of them always choose low-sodium food when purchasing, only 15. 1% of the teachers requested the meals cooked lightly when eating out. The proportions of teachers who used low-sodium salt among female, higher family income, knowing salt intake recommended, knowing the health influence of sodium, knowing that long-term salty food may cause hypertension, active learning related knowledge, family members suffering from hypertension were higher than their counterparts(P<0. 05). The proportions of using salt control spoon among teachers under Bachelor's degree, active learning related knowledge were higher than their counterparts(P<0. 05). The proportions of teachers purchasing low-sodium food among 40 years and older, under Bachelor's degree, higher family income, knowing salt intake recommended, knowing the health influence of sodium, knowing that long-term salty food may cause hypertension, family members not suffering from hypertension, active learning related knowledge were higher than their counterparts(P<0. 05). The proportions of teachers requesting the meals cooked slightly when eating-out among 40 years and older, under Bachelor's degree, not knowing salt intake recommended, not knowing that long-term salty food may cause hypertension, not knowing if their family members suffered from hypertension, active learning related knowledge were higher than their counterparts(P<0. 05). The teachers consumed soy sauce, bean paste, fried bread stick differently owing to their knowledge about this(P<0. 05).

CONCLUSION

The teachers in the four cities have grasped some knowledge on salt and health, but their related behaviors should be improved to reduce the salt intake.