Comparison of Salt-Related Knowledge and Behaviors Status of WeChat Users between 2019 and 2020

Abstract

In order to identify the status of salt-related knowledge and behavior of the residents who were active in WeChat software between 2019 and 2020, 10-day salt-related surveys were conducted in 2019 and 2020 based on the WeChat public platform of China Healthy Lifestyle for All Campaign. Distribution and scores of salt-related knowledge, salt reduction behavior and high-salt intake behavior between 2019 and 2020 were compared. Data of 2109 participants in 2019 and 12732 participants in 2020 were left for analysis. Overall, 88.2% of participants in 2019 had a willingness to reduce the amount of cooking salt in their households, significantly lower than 90.2% in 2020 (p-value < 0.05). In 2019 and 2020, over 80% of the participants knew fine dried noodles contain salt, but less than 30% knew ice cream contains salt. Over 78% of participants chose 5g or 6g for the maximum daily salt intake of healthy adults, and about 98% of participants knew that excessive salt intake would increase the risk of hypertension in both years. The percentage of participants who used salt measuring spoons asked restaurants to use less salt, read the sodium content on the nutrition facts table, chose foods with low sodium content and regularly used low-sodium salt, were 36.1%, 45.0%, 44.1%, 40.3% and 35.8% in 2019, and the percentage increased significantly to 46.4%, 49.2%, 50.8%, 47.1% and 43.4% in 2020 (all p-value < 0.05). The percentage of people regularly eating pickled mustard tubers, salted vegetables and sauce foods or using high-salt condiments also increased from 2019 to 2020. The median of salt-related knowledge scores, salt reduction behavior scores and high-salt intake behavior scores were 11, 2, 5 points in 2019, and 10, 3, 5 points in 2020, respectively. Compared to 2019, the salt-related knowledge score was relatively lower, while the salt reduction behavior score and high-salt intake behavior score were relatively higher in 2020. Besides, the score of salt-related knowledge and behaviors differed in different gender, age and hypertension groups. The COVID-19 epidemic may have influenced the salt-related knowledge and behaviors status of WeChat users in China. Promotion and education of salt-related knowledge and online behavior intervention are still needed, particularly for male and hypertension patients in the future.

Using the health belief model to understand the factors influencing the perceptions of people of Chinese ancestry about reducing salt consumption for hypertension prevention: A cross-sectional study

“…Overall, 27.6% (n = 52) of participants reported they consumed pickles, soya sauce and bean paste, which were high in salt content, as additional seasoning at the dining table. This percentage of adding seasoning at the table was lower than the finding (31.4%) of a study conducted by Yang, Wang [ 46 ] in China but significantly lower than the finding (73%) from an Argentinian study [ 47 ].…”

Healthy Diet-Related Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) and Related Socio-Demographic Characteristics among Middle-Aged and Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Survey in Southwest China

“…This finding may have resulted from women being assigned additional responsibilities for cooking and diet decisions in society. In fact, in most Chinese households, women take on the role of cooking, and they have a greater focus on healthy diet knowledge, such as salt intake levels [ 39 ]. Accordingly, they may pay extra attention to the healthy diets of family members and possess further diet knowledge and skills.…”

Salt reduction behavior of adults in Anhui province in 2019: a cross-sectional survey of 3,378 participants

“…The findings suggested that women were more motivated to reduce their salt intake, possibly because they were typically in charge of the kitchen and were concerned about their family members' diets, thereby paying more attention to salt-related information ( 16 , 17 ). The results of previous studies were generally supported by the higher awareness of salt reduction behavior rates among the more educated and older adults ( 18 , 19 ).…”