• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.12-19
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• 2015

This study was performed for the purpose of establishing proper dietary behaviors and improving sodium intake status by investigating nutrition knowledge, dietary behaviors, and food intake frequency related to sodium in 398 university students living in Gyeonggi-do and Incheon. Female students showed a higher rate of eating out more than five times a week as well as daily snack intake than male students. Female students showed a higher score for sodium-related nutrition knowledge than male students, whereas male students showed higher sodium intake than female students. Subjects who showed a higher frequency of eating out and snack intake also showed a higher salt intake ratio and sodium-related nutrition knowledge. Subjects with higher scores related to sodium-related nutrition knowledge showed a higher low salt intake ratio and incidence of low sodium food intake. From this research, depending on the level of nutrition knowledge related to sodium university students showed differences in dietary behavior related to sodium intake. This result would be helpful to develop lower sodium training materials specific to low sodium food selection tips, reading nutrition labels, and so on.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.327-337
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• 2015

Objectives: Dietary life is closely associated with dietary attitude and diet-related knowledge. Particularly, dietary habit such as sodium intake can be affected by various dietary behaviors such as food choices, dietary attitude toward salty food and a preference for salty taste. The purpose of this study was to assess sodium-related nutrition knowledge and to identify sodium-related attitude and behaviors according to the level of sodium-related knowledge of university students. Methods: Anthropometric measurements were provided by 408 students who participated in this study. The study participants answered questionnaires to provide information on general dietary behaviors, sodium-related dietary attitude and other behavioral factors. A total score of nutrition knowledge was used to categorize study participants in to two groups, namely, low level in sodium-related knowledge (LNaK) or high level in sodium-related knowledge (HNaK) and the attitude and the behaviors of students toward sodium intake were compared between these two groups. Results: The ratio of female students in HNaK group was higher than that in the LNaK group. HNaK group had a higher score in checking nutrition label of processed food than the LNaK group. Total score of sodium-related attitude and behaviors of HNaK group were 34.81 and 32.75, respectively and these scores were significantly higher than that of the LNaK group whose scores were 32.57 and 30.57, respectively. Total energy intake was not different between two groups but the intakes of calcium, vitamin B2 and folate were higher in HNaK group than in the LNaK group. Correlation analysis adjusted for age and gender revealed that total score of sodium-related nutrition knowledge was positively correlated with total score of sodium-related attitude and behaviors. Conclusions: In conclusion, students who had high level of sodium-related nutrition knowledge had desirable attitude and behaviors toward sodium intake and these results can be considered in nutrition education for university students.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.558-567
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• 2014

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate recognition, dietary attitude and education needs for reducing sodium intakes of dietitian at customized home visiting health service (CHVHS). Methods: The subjects were 75 dietitian at CHVHS. We investigated several variables (recognition, dietary attitude, education needs for reducing sodium intakes) and determined sodium intakes level of subjects as 'low', 'middle' and 'high' by Dish Frequency Questionnaire 25 (DFQ 25). Also, we assessed the differences in recognition, dietary attitude, sodium intake level and education needs by dietitian career period (under 3 yrs vs. over 3 yrs) at CHVHS. Results: In recognition related reducing sodium intake, they showed 'checking a sodium content in nutrition labeling' score 2.5/4.0 and 'perception difference between sodium and salt' score 3.1/4.0. There was no difference in the recognition between under 3yrs' group and over 3yrs' group. In dietary attitude related reducing sodium intake, they showed 'palatability for salty taste' score 0.8/1.0, 'attitude in related soups' 0.7/1.0, 'attitude in related using natural spice' 0.6/1.0. There was a difference in 'attitude in related soups' between under 3yrs' group and over 3yrs' group (0.6 vs. 0.7). In sodium intake level by DFQ 25, they showed 'low group' 41.3%, 'middle group' 41.3% and 'high group' 17.3%. There was no difference in the distribution of sodium intake level by the career. In education needs related reducing sodium intakes, there were 'teaching experience' 93.3%, 'have a difficulty in teaching about reducing sodium intakes' 86.6%, and 'necessity of education for CHVHS dietitians' 100.0%. 'Needed education contents for CHVHS dietitians' were ranked as 'cooking way to reduce sodium intake' 58.7%, 'relation between hypertension and sodium' 17.3%, 'composing way to reduce sodium intake' 17.3%. There was a difference in needed education contents 'relationship between hypertension and sodium' (33.3% vs. 2.6%) and 'The cooking way to reduce sodium intake' (38.9% vs. 76.9%) by the career. Conclusions: The results suggested that a capacity training program for reducing sodium intake may be needed for dietitians at CHVHS to improve health of the community elderly. For effective training program related reducing sodium intake for dietitians at CHVHS, it may be necessary to consider the career period as dietitians at CHVHS.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.460-467
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• 2015

Objectives: Excess sodium intake has been linked to obesity and obesity-related indices. However, the scientific evidence for this association is inadequate. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between urinary sodium excretion and obesity-related indices among Korean adults. Methods: A convenience sample of 120 subjects (60 obese and 60 non-obese subjects) were recruited applying frequency matching for sex and age between two groups. Sodium intake level was assessed through 24-hour urine collection. Obesity-related metabolic risk factors, including fasting blood lipid indices, subcutaneous and visceral fat through computed tomography (CT), insulin resistance indices, blood pressure and liver enzymes were measured in all subjects. These obesity-related metabolic risk factors were compared between obese and non-obese group according to sodium excretion levels (<110 mEq/day, 110~180 mEq/day, >180 mEq/day). Results: After adjusting for age, gender, health behaviors (smoking, exercise, drinking), and energy intake, several obesity-related metabolic risk factors, including abdominal circumference, body fat percentage, subcutaneous and visceral fat, triglyceride, and systolic blood pressure were found to be significantly deteriorated as the sodium excretion level increases. In addition, multivariate adjusted-odds ratios of abdominal obesity, high blood triglyceride, and high blood pressure were found significantly higher in the highest sodium excretion group compared to the lowest group. The mean number of metabolic syndrome risk factors was also significantly greater in the highest sodium excretion group than in the lowest group. Conclusions: The current study findings suggested that high sodium intake can affect obesity and metabolic syndrome risk negatively, implying the necessity of future research on low-sodium diet intervention in relation to obesity and related health problems.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.963-969
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• 2015

High sodium intake in many countries has become the leading cause of chronic diseases. This situation requires correct dietary behavior to ensure proper sodium intake in the younger population. The purpose of the present study was to assess eating behavior regarding sodium intake and identify its correlation with common dietary attitudes in children. This cross-sectional study was conducted by surveying 588 elementary school children in Korea. Sodium-related dietary behavior and common eating attitudes were examined through questionnaires, and analyses were conducted by comparing the results between boys and girls. The most undesirable sodium-related dietary behavior in subjects was they 'eat kimchi with every meal' followed by the 'tendency to eat hot and spicy food'. Girls had better dietary behavior regarding sodium intake than boys (P<0.05). However, the common eating attitude between boys and girls was not significantly different. For all subjects, sodium-related dietary behavior and eating attitude showed a significant positive correlation (P=0.0032). The present study shows that a common eating attitude is better when the sodium-related dietary behavior is more desirable in children.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.426-436
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• 2018

This study assessed effective strategies to reduce the sodium intake among consumers using pork cutlet sauce as a model food system. Original pork cutlet sauce and sodium-reduced sauce (29% reduced by a salt substitute) were analyzed to characterize the sensory properties using descriptive analysis. The effects of sodium-reduction of the sauce, consumer type (nutrition teachers vs. general consumers), information related to the sodium content, serving method, and consumer's health, taste and sodium-related attitudes on the consumer's preference, perception, and intake of the sauce were analyzed using a consumer test. In descriptive analysis, the original and sodium-reduced sauce showed similar sensory characteristics but did not differ in saltiness. In the consumer test, there were no significant differences in the overall preference levels between the two sauces. On the other hand, there were significant differences in preference and perception between nutrition teachers and general consumer groups, which were due largely to their age as well as the health and sodium-related attitudes and nutritional knowledge differences. Sodium-reduced information decreased the perceived saltiness intensity. In addition, reducing sodium intake by serving pork cutlet sauce in a bottle can be an effective strategy because this serving method increased the acceptance and induced the smaller intake of sauce.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.168-175
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• 2017

This study surveyed the status of recognition, effort, and satisfaction of customers on a low-sodium diet in industry foodservice. For recognition related to sodium intake, 34.6% answered 'sure' for awareness of WHO's recommended daily sodium intake. Recognition of healthiness of low-sodium diet scored an average of $3.77{\pm}0.8$. The most frequent dietary effort related to low-sodium diet was 'I leave the broth of soup/stew (23.7%)', and the most common reason for not making an effort related to low-sodium diet was 'I often eat out (25.2%)'. Recognition of saltiness of foodservice meals was $2.84{\pm}0.69$, and the saltiest food was 'kimchi (30.4%)', followed by 'side dish (17.9%)', 'soup/stew (16.8%)', and 'sauce (8.3%)'. Satisfaction of low-sodium foodservice meal was $3.04{\pm}0.71$. Reasons for recognition of saltiness of foodservice meal were mostly 'appropriate' or 'prefer less salty (86%)'. In the analysis of satisfaction of low-sodium foodservice meal according to occupation, satisfaction of 'level of saltiness ($F=5.046^{**}$)' scored an average of $3.18{\pm}0.72$, with the highest satisfaction from 'professionals'. Satisfaction of 'dietary behaviors related to sodium ($F=3.534^{**}$)' scored an average of $3.95{\pm}0.59$, with the highest satisfaction from 'government employees (p<0.01)'. These study results show that despite recognition of the healthiness of a low-sodium diet, efforts toward practicing the diet were less than adequate. Further, 25% felt that foodservice meal was a blend, whereas satisfaction of low-sodium diet was only 19%. Therefore, continuous education and advertisements are necessary in order to raise awareness as well as developing more concrete methods during preparation of meals, such as using a salt meter.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.693-705
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• 2013

This study was conducted to identify adults' knowledge, dietary behavior related to sodium, the attitude towards a low-salt diet, and to examine the relation between these variables. The participants were 366 adults in Jeonbuk area. The data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficients, ANOVA and Duncan test with SPSS v. 12.0. The score for participants' knowledge about sodium was 12.32 points of a possible 16, the score for dietary behavior related to sodium was 45.74 points of a possible 70, and their score for attitude towards a low-salt diet was 30.35 points of a possible 50. The knowledge showed significant differences by gender (p<.05), and concern about health (p<.05). The dietary behavior of sodium use showed significant differences by gender (p<.001), age (p<.001), educational level (p<.05), job (p<.001), income (p<.05), BMI (p<.05), smoking (p<.01), drinking (p<.01), exercise (p<.05), regularity of health checkup (p<.001), and concern about health (p<.01). The attitude towards a low-salt diet showed significant differences by gender (p<.001), age (p<.001), job (p<.001), income (p<.001), smoking (p<.05), regularity of health checkup (p<.001), and concern about health (p<.001). There was a significant positive correlation between knowledge about sodium, dietary behavior related to sodium, attitude towards a low-salt diet. Dietary behavior related to sodium showed a positive correlation with attitudes towards a low-salt diet. In conclusion, it is necessary to consider the related factors for the development and implementation of systematic education programs that can encourage and promote preventive dietary behavior for disease, e.g. stomach cancer, and hypertension among adults.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.125-133
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• 2013

Previous studies have shown that sodium excretion is positively related to calcium excretion in the urine. As excessive sodium intake is a common nutritional problem in Korea, we intended to investigate associations among sodium intake levels and calcium status, evaluated by 24 hour recall method and urinary excretion, and bone status. We collected dietary information for non-consecutive three days from 139 young adult women 19~29 years. After classifying the subjects into 4 groups based on the dietary sodium levels by daily total sodium intake (mg) and sodium density (sodium intake per 1000 kcal energy intake), we compared the bone status, nutrient intakes, urinary calcium and sodium excretions. The results showed a positive association between total daily sodium intake and intake of other nutrients. However, no significant differences in nutrients intakes were observed among subject groups classified by sodium density levels. There were no significant differences of bone density among groups by total daily sodium intake as well as by sodium density. While total daily sodium intake showed significantly positive relationship with urinary sodium (p < 0.05) and calcium (p < 0.05), sodium density was not related to urinary excretion of calcium and sodium. Our results suggested that promoting balanced meals providing appropriate amounts of energy intake is the essential component of nutrition education for improving calcium status of young Korean women with excessive sodium intake.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.537-549
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• 2014

Objectives: This study was conducted to examine blood pressure and other characteristics of a high sodium intake group assessed with 24-hr urine analysis and the dietary factors related to the risk of high sodium intake among Korean adults. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with adults aged 20-59 years. Subjects who completed 24-hr urine collection (N = 205) were divided into 3 groups (tertile) according to the sodium intake estimated with 24-hour urine analysis. We compared the blood pressure, BMI and dietary related factors of the 3 groups (low, medium, high sodium intake group) with General Linear Model (GLM) and Duncan's multiple range test (p < 0.05). The risk factors related to high sodium intake were assessed with odds ratio (p < 0.05). Results: The sodium intake (mg/day) of the 3 groups were $3359.8{\pm}627.9$, $4900.3{\pm}395.1$ and $6770.6{\pm}873.9$, respectively, corresponding to daily salt intake (g/day) 8.5, 12.4 and 17.2, respectively. High sodium group showed significantly elevated age, BMI and systolic/diastolic blood pressure. Being male gender was associated with significantly increased risk of sodium intake (OR = 1.972; 95%CI: 1.083-3.593). The other factors related to high sodium intake were higher BMI (${\leq}25$) (OR = 2.619; 95% CI: 1.368-5.015), current alcohol consumption (OR = 1.943; 95%CI: 1.060-3.564), and having salty soybean paste with salt percentage > 14% (OR = 3.99; 95% CI: 1.404-6.841). The dietary attitude related to increased risk of high sodium intake included 'enjoy dried fish and salted mackerel' (p < 0.001) and 'eat all broth of soup, stew or noodle' (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Because high sodium intake was associated with higher blood pressure, nutrition education should focus on alcohol consumption, emphasis on related dietary factors such as using low salt soybean paste, improvements in the habit of eating dried fish and salted mackerel or eating all broth of soup, stew or noodle.