Correlaciones entre la ingesta de sal en la dieta y la eliminación de sodio en la orina de 24 h en una muestra de población urbana de Cáceres

OBJECTIVE: Excessive salt intake is associated with higher levels of AHT and prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. WHO recommends consuming less than 5 g/day of salt (equivalent to 2 g Na(+)/day). Identifying foods and behaviours with greater contribution to excess intake would facilitate preventive dietary advice. DESIGN: Observational study. SITE: Urban Health Center in Cáceres. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: We estimated salt consumption using two food consumption frequency (FFQ) questionnaires, one generic and one with high Na+ content, and a 24 h follow-up survey. We use the Evalfinut program for nutritional evaluation of the diet. We analyzed correlations between estimated salt intake and 24-h urine sodium elimination (gold standard). RESULTS: 92% of the population had consumption higher than the recommendations with intakes equivalent to 9.5 g/day of salt (3.7 g/d of Na(+)). When sodium intake is determined by the Na(+)/K(+) ratio, 79.54% have high intakes. Sodium elimination follows a slightly increasing trend with BMI. The perception of salt consumption is low, 56.3% consider it “adequate”. 32.4% add salt to food once served. FFQ underestimate Na(+) intake and targeted surveys provide higher values. The correlation between FFQ and Na(+) urinary elimination is weak. CONCLUSION: We must reduce salt intake by increasing the perception of consumption, improving knowledge about the salt content in food and identifying target patients of the health council.