Aksoy Canyolu Burcu, Özben Sadıç Beste
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Istanbul Medeniyet University, Istanbul 34862, Turkey.
Department of Cardiology, School of Medicine, Marmara University, Istanbul 34854, Turkey.
Foods. 2025 Jan 6;14(1):141. doi: 10.3390/foods14010141.
Food choices are influenced by knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors (KABs); therefore, determining KABs regarding salt is a key point for salt reduction, which is a primary public health problem in Turkey. This study aimed to assess salt-related KABs in Turkey. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 415 adults in a hospital in Turkey. A structured questionnaire assessing salt-related KABs was administered, and blood pressure was measured. The majority of participants were aware of the health risks associated with high salt intake. Higher overall attitude scores increased the odds of performing most behaviors to reduce salt, except for checking food labels, using spices instead of salt, and purchasing foods labeled as low-sodium, by almost three-fold. These results suggest that both normotensive and hypertensive adults need to improve their knowledge of the health effects and dietary sources of salt, and how to reduce it. Salt-related KABs were not found to be aligned with all positive attitudes toward salt consumption; this indicates the need for regulations that operate independently of public perceptions, such as policies for reducing salt in the food industry and making reduced-salt products more affordable to encourage healthier food choices.
食物选择受知识、态度和行为（KABs）的影响；因此，确定与盐相关的KABs是减少盐摄入的关键，而盐摄入是土耳其的一个主要公共卫生问题。本研究旨在评估土耳其与盐相关的KABs。这项横断面研究在土耳其一家医院的415名成年人中进行。使用一份评估与盐相关的KABs的结构化问卷，并测量血压。大多数参与者都意识到高盐摄入相关的健康风险。除了查看食品标签、用香料代替盐以及购买低钠标签食品外，总体态度得分越高，采取大多数行为来减少盐摄入的几率几乎增加三倍。这些结果表明，血压正常和高血压的成年人都需要提高对盐的健康影响、饮食来源以及如何减少盐摄入的认识。未发现与盐相关的KABs与对盐消费的所有积极态度一致；这表明需要制定独立于公众认知的法规，例如食品行业减少盐的政策以及使低盐产品更具价格可承受性，以鼓励做出更健康的食物选择。
