Sodium intake has been associated with the health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This study examined the demographic factors related to HRQoL and whether there is an association between sodium intake and HRQoL in adults residing in rural areas. A total of 1,980 adults (aged ≥20 years) were selected from a cross-sectional study conducted between December 2013 and February 2014 in Gyeongju, South Korea. The sodium intake and HRQoL were measured using a validated food frequency questionnaire and the EuroQol Five-Dimension (EQ-5D) (mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression), respectively. The education levels (<5 years) were inversely associated with all five dimensions of HRQoL. Men had better EQ-5D scores for each of the five components examined. Adults living with spouses had better scores related to usual activities and anxiety/depression, whereas widowers had decreased scores of mobility and self-care. Unlike older adults aged 70-79 years, adults aged <60 years were more likely to have greater scores related to mobility, usual activities, and pain/discomfort. The income levels were also inversely related to the scores for self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression. Sodium intake was positively associated with the HRQoL related to self-care, usual activities, and pain/discomfort, but it was negatively associated with anxiety/depression. In conclusion, these findings suggest that the demographic factors and sodium intake were independently associated with HRQoL. The results highlight the need to provide tailored, targeted policies and interventions that consider personal characteristics and dietary intake to improve the overall HRQoL in adults residing in rural areas.

The purpose of this study was to investigate dietary behavior and nutritional knowledge related to sodium intake in high school students. A questionnaire survey was conducted in 400 high school students (200 boys) in Incheon, Korea. Survey data were analyzed according to gender and degree of obesity. The distribution of the degree of obesity was the highest in 231 normal weight individuals (57.8%), followed by 89 underweight (22.3%), 41 overweight (10.3%), and 39 obese (9.8%). The sodium-related undesirable dietary behavior score was 2.9 points out of 5 points. The detailed dietary behavior scores of ‘I eat kimchi when I eat instant noodles or noodles’ and ‘I like dried fish with salt’ were significantly higher in boys than in girls (p<0.05). It was found that boys consumed more frequently high sodium foods, such as pizza, hamburger, and hotdog than girls. According to the degree of obesity, the underweight group consumed more kimchi fried rice and potato chips frequently than the other groups (p<0.05). Preference for salty taste was not significantly different among the groups by gender and degree of obesity. Sodium-related nutritional knowledge score was 5.3 points out of 10 and which was significantly higher in girls or normal weight group than in boys or obesity group. These results suggest that nutritional education on sodium intake is needed because the nutritional knowledge of adolescents is relatively low. Moreover, intensive nutritional guidance is required, especially in boys or adolescents with undesirable degree of obesity.

The purpose of this study was to compare dietary self-efficacy for sodium intake reduction and dietary behaviors by eating areas. Subjects (797 males and 767 females) were classified according to perceived dietary habit levels related to sodium intake (lowest: ≤10 (n=434), low: 11~≤13 (n=471), high: 14~≤15 (n=360), highest: 16≤ (n=299)) using an online survey with a sample that was geographically representative of the population. The highest group was significantly younger and had a higher student proportion than the lowest group. Dining contexts regarding home led to a significantly higher sodium intake in the highest group, but it was eating out for the lowest group. The highest group had a significantly lower intention to reduce sodium intake compared to the lowest group. In the home cooked meals, the highest group displayed a significantly lower cooking frequency, less effort with respect to a low sodium diet and cooking habits related to sodium intake as compared to the lowest group. Also, regarding eating out and food service, the highest group exhibited significantly lower efforts and dietary behaviors to reduce sodium intake than the lowest group. The dietary score for sodium reduction behavior in the highest group was significantly lower compared to the lowest group, for home cooked meals, eating out, as well as food service. Thus, dietary guidelines and nutrition education for the reduction of sodium intake by eating areas need to be developed and provided.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the sodium-related dietary attitudes, behaviors, and nutritional knowledge in university students according to the practice of dietary guidelines for Koreans established by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Republic of Korea. Based on the total practice score related to the dietary guidelines (PDG), we classified subjects into a “low practice of the dietary guidelines (LPDG)” group (n=94, male=43, female=51) (total score of PDG ≤13) and a “high practice of the dietary guidelines (HPDG)” group (n=56, male=32, female=24) (total score of PDG >13). Subjects were asked about general characteristics, lifestyle, salt-related dietary attitudes, behaviors, and nutritional knowledge using a questionnaire. The LPDG group had more subjects who were breakfast skippers (p<0.001) compared to the HPDG group. The LPDG group (31.26) had a significantly lower score in terms of salt-related dietary attitudes compared to the HPDG group (33.77) (p=0.0042). The score for salt-related dietary attitudes was significantly higher in the HPDG (32.52) group than in the LPDG (29.91) group (p=0.0041). There was no significant difference in the total score for salt-related nutrition knowledge between the groups. The correlation analysis indicated that the dietary guidelines practice score had a positive correlation with the salt-related dietary attitude score (r=0.3593, p<0.0001) and the dietary attitude score (r=0.3443, p<0.0001) after adjustments for sex. These results show that the degree of adherence to the dietary guidelines for adults may be related to sodium-related dietary attitudes, behaviors, and nutrition knowledge.

This study was designed to investigate dietary life related to sodium of participants in hypertension and diabetes preventive education at the public health center located in Incheon Metropolitan City. Subjects were comprised of 301 adults (males: 102, female: 199) of age 50 years and above. The questionnaire for dietary life and salty taste assessment were performed on the subjects. Data were analyzed using SPSS package (ver. 18.0). According to the result of questionnaire for dietary behavior, 70% of the subjects were in the low salt intake group (p<0.001). In the result of questionnaire for dietary frequency, all ages groups were in the low salt intake group (p<0.01). The data of questionnaire for dietary behavior showed that the subjects of age above 75 years preferred salted seafood, soup, and kimchi (p<0.01). The data of questionnaire for dietary frequency showed that the subjects of age between 65 and 74, least chose fried kimchi, noodle, and soybean paste soup with clams (p<0.05), and the healthy adult groups chose kimchi stew, ssam and ssamjang (p<0.05). The score for dietary behavior in male subjects was higher than female subjects (p<0.01). In particular, the score for dietary frequency was the lowest in the subjects of age between 65 and 74 (p<0.01). The mean value of salty taste assessment in the subjects was 0.41% which is higher than the ideal value of 0.3% (p<0.01). Offering more nutrition education and continuous feedback of healthcare center may be needed to improve the health status of the adults.

This study was conducted to investigate the degree of practice of dietary behavior and dining out in accordance with intake of sodium among male and female adults aged 20 years or older residing in the Seoul Metropolitan area or Chungcheong Province. A total of 530 copies of the questionnaire were distributed from May to July, 2014. The SH group who responded that they eat a lot of sodium constituted 30.6% (158 people), followed by the SM group who responded that their sodium intake is about average at 55.7% (288 people) and the SL group who answered that they do not eat much sodium at 13.7% (71 people). Those in the SL group showed positive results for dietary behavior patterns. The SL group showed the lowest rate in terms of how often they eat harmful foods, including processed foods, sweet foods, salty foods, or food with high animal fat content such as pork belly. Positive results among the SL group were prominent in terms of avoiding over-drinking, regular exercise, and nutritional knowledge, indicating greater health management. The distribution of each group in terms of self-perceived sodium intake showed significant differences across age, gender, and household income in terms of frequency of fast food intake, regularity of meals, purchase of foods with consideration of sodium amount, frequency of missed meals, balance of food intake, and health management habits.