Kerr G R, Amante P, Decker M, Callen P W
Am J Epidemiol. 1982 Jun;115(6):906-16. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a113378.
Dietary sodium may play a contributory role in the development of hypertension, but difficulties in defining the "usual" sodium intake of individuals prevent any stronger statement on the nature of the diet-disease relationship. The prevelance of hypertension is greater in black than in white populations of the United States, and there is speculation that dietary sodium intake may also be greater in black individuals. A significant proportion of dietary sodium is derived from table salt added to food during its preparation and consumption. In an attempt to identify whether purchase of table salt was sufficiently increased in black communities to support the hypothesis of an etiologic role in hypertension, the scales of table salt in supermarkets located in predominantly black, Hispanic and white census tracts of Houston, Texas, were compared. The mean ratio between sales of salt and a series of 20 staple food commodities in predominantly black and Hispanic census tract supermarkets were 148% and 202%, respectively, of that in predominantly white census tracts. The elevated ratios were not due to reduced sales of the food commodities. The authors conclude that sales of table salt, in relation to the series of food commodities, are 50-100% higher in Houston's black and Hispanic census tract supermarkets than in those of white census tracts. Whether the increased sales of table salt have causal relationship to the prevalence of hypertension in these communities can only be determined by further studies.
膳食钠可能在高血压的发生发展中起一定作用，但由于难以确定个体的“通常”钠摄入量，因此无法就饮食与疾病关系的性质做出更有力的论断。在美国，黑人高血压的患病率高于白人，有人推测黑人个体的膳食钠摄入量可能也更高。相当一部分膳食钠来自于食物制备和食用过程中添加的食盐。为了确定黑人社区食盐购买量是否有足够增加以支持食盐在高血压病因学中起作用的假设，对位于得克萨斯州休斯顿主要为黑人、西班牙裔和白人普查区的超市中食盐的销量进行了比较。在主要为黑人普查区和西班牙裔普查区的超市中，食盐与一系列20种主食商品的平均销售比率分别是主要为白人普查区超市的148%和202%。比率升高并非由于食品商品销量减少。作者得出结论，在休斯顿的黑人普查区和西班牙裔普查区超市中，与一系列食品商品相比，食盐销量比白人普查区超市高50%-100%。食盐销量增加与这些社区高血压患病率是否存在因果关系只能通过进一步研究来确定。
