engleski

The Significance of Food Salt Content in the Context of Hypertension Prevention

Dietary salt is one of the major causes of hypertension. The aim of this study was to identify the amount of dietary salt intake among group of pre-elderly and elderly patients from Eastern Croatia to determine is there a difference between them and to evaluate the significance of food salt content in the context of hypertension prevention. This cross-sectional study included 107 patients aged 61.8±8.3 (range 50-89), 64.5% (69/107) pre-elderly patients (aged 50-64) and 35.5% (38/107) elderly patients (aged 65-89). A specially designed questionnaire was used to collect demographic data and data concerning potential nutritional sources of salt in daily diet among study participants. The values of the salt content in 23 types of bread, 42 bakery products and 31 different salty snacks available in the Croatian market were established. The amount of the overall daily salt consumption for each participant has been calculated. The average daily dietary salt intake among all the patients was 9.3±3.7 (range 3.3-24.7) grams. The average daily salt intake among pre-elderly patients was 9.6±3.8 (range 3.3-24.7) and 8.9±3.3 (range 4.0-18.1) grams among elderly patients. In 85.5% (59/69) of pre-elderly patients the recorded intake was more than 6.0 grams of salt per day while 81.6% (31/38) of elderly patients had the same record of salt intake. The study showed that both pre-elderly and elderly patients from Eastern Croatia have an identical pattern of salt intake thus preventive actions for both groups should include education about the significance of salt reduction as one of the most cost-effective strategies to combat the epidemic of hypertension and related cardiovascular diseases.

elderly patients; hypertension; pre-elderly patients; dietary salt; prevention; Croatia

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