School of Nursing, Tung Wah College, Hong Kong, China.
Independent Scholar, Auburn, NSW 2144, Australia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Sep 11;18(18):9572. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18189572.
Excessive dietary salt intake is prevalent in the Hong Kong community. Over the last decade, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has been actively promoting community participation to reduce salt intake. The aim of this study was to investigate the current knowledge levels and behaviors relating to dietary salt intake among Hong Kong adults. This cross-sectional survey involved 426 adults in Hong Kong. The findings of this study identified areas of knowledge deficit in the recommended upper limit of daily salt intake for an adult set by World Health Organization ( = 295, 69.2%) indicated a lack of awareness that the overconsumption of salt could cause coronary heart disease ( = 233, 54.7%). Disengagement with salt reduction behavior, such as rarely/never checking the sodium or salt content listed on the food label ( = 252, 59.2%) and rarely/never purchasing food labelled with low salt or no salt content ( = 292, 68.9%), was reported. Excessive salt intake in dietary habits remains an under-recognized non-communicable disease threat by Hong Kong citizens, indicating ineffective responsive risk communication. There is a need to refine existing salt reduction initiatives to aid in making appropriate decisions regarding dietary salt intake among Hong Kong citizens.
香港社会普遍存在摄入过多盐份的问题。在过去十年，香港特别行政区政府一直积极推动社区参与，以减少盐的摄入量。本研究旨在调查香港成年人目前与饮食盐摄入量相关的知识水平和行为。这项横断面调查涉及香港 426 名成年人。研究结果发现，对于世界卫生组织（WHO）建议的成年人每日盐摄入量上限（295，69.2%），大多数成年人（=233，54.7%）不知道盐摄入量过多会导致冠心病。很少/从不检查食品标签上列出的钠或盐含量（=252，59.2%）以及很少/从不购买低钠或无盐标签的食物（=292，68.9%）的情况表明，人们没有采取减少盐摄入量的行为。香港市民仍然没有充分认识到饮食习惯中摄入过多盐分会对健康造成威胁，这表明有效的风险沟通措施尚未发挥作用。有必要完善现有的减盐措施，以帮助香港市民在饮食盐摄入量方面做出适当的决策。
