Table 3.
Attitudes towards sodium, salt and salt alternatives
| Question† | Total % | Age | Gender | Ethnicity (n 927) | Education | Knowledge score | Behaviour score | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21–39 years % |
40–59 years % |
≥ 60 years % |
P | Male % | Female % | P | Chinese % | Malay % | Indian % | P | Secondary school and below % | Post-secondary school % | University degree and above % | P | Mean | sd | P | Mean | sd | P | ||
| How concerned are you about the amount of Na in food? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Concerned | 78·3 | 66·5 | 77·7 | 93·1 | ** | 72·9 | 83·3 | ** | 79·9 | 72·1 | 84·4 | 80·1 | 78·8 | 76·2 | 4·3 | 1·7 | * | 5·8 | 2·0a | ** | ||
| Neither | 15·0 | 22·5 | 16·0 | 4·7 | 18·6 | 11·7 | 14·1 | 19·4 | 13·9 | 13·7 | 14·5 | 16·7 | 4·0 | 1·7 a | 4·1 | 1·7b | ||||||
| Unconcerned | 6·7 | 11·0 | 6·4 | 2·2 | 8·5 | 5·0 | 6·1 | 8·6 | 1·7 | 6·2 | 6·7 | 7·2 | 4·7 | 1·6b | 3·6 | 1·6b | ||||||
| I believe salt is needed to make food tasty. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Agree | 73·3 | 74·9 | 76·5 | 66·4 | 74·9 | 71·8 | 73·1 | 76·4 | 82·9 | 68·3 | 73·7 | 76·8 | 4·2 | 1·6a | ** | 5·2 | 2·1a | ** | ||||
| Neither | 13·8 | 13·5 | 13·6 | 14·4 | 14·0 | 13·6 | 13·9 | 15·3 | 11·6 | 15·3 | 14·6 | 11·6 | 3·9 | 1·7a | 5·6 | 2·0a | ||||||
| Disagree | 12·9 | 11·6 | 10·0 | 19·2 | 11·1 | 14·6 | 13·0 | 8·3 | 5·5 | 16·5 | 11·7 | 11·7 | 5·0 | 1·9b | 6·5 | 2·0b | ||||||
| MSG is a healthier alternative to regular table salt.‡ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Agree | 8·8 | 5·9 | 9·5 | 10·7 | * | 7·1 | 10·5 | ** | 8·0 | 15·2 | 4·4 | 14·0 | 9·2 | 4·3 | ** | 3·7 | 1·7a | ** | 5·8 | 2·1a | ** | |
| Neither | 27·4 | 37·0 | 22·9 | 24·9 | 33·7 | 21·3 | 28·1 | 29·5 | 16·1 | 21·2 | 32·6 | 25·1 | 4·0 | 1·7a | 5·0 | 2·0b | ||||||
| Disagree | 63·8 | 57·1 | 67·7 | 64·3 | 59·2 | 68·2 | 64·0 | 55·3 | 79·5 | 64·8 | 58·2 | 70·6 | 4·4 | 1·7b | 5·7 | 2·2a | ||||||
| Na intake can be reduced by replacing table salt with potassium-enriched salts.‡ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Agree | 24·3 | 24·7 | 25·5 | 21·9 | ** | 22·4 | 26·1 | 24·0 | 31·7 | 24·1 | 24·1 | 24·3 | 24·3 | 4·1 | 1·6 | 5·6 | 2·1 | ** | ||||
| Neither | 54·1 | 61·4 | 53·9 | 47·2 | 54·5 | 53·6 | 54·6 | 54·8 | 43·8 | 50·2 | 56·8 | 53·4 | 4·2 | 1·7 | 5·3 | 2·1a | ||||||
| Disagree | 21·7 | 14·0 | 20·6 | 31·0 | 23·1 | 20·3 | 21·4 | 13·5 | 32·1 | 25·7 | 18·9 | 22·4 | 4·5 | 1·9 | 6·1 | 2·1b | ||||||
a,b,cMean values within a column with unlike superscript letters were significantly different (P < 0·05).
*
P < 0·05.
**
P < 0·01.
†
Responses aggregated into three categories: ‘Concerned’ includes extremely and somewhat concerned, ‘Unconcerned’ includes not concerned and somewhat unconcerned, ‘Agree’ includes strongly and somewhat agree and ‘Disagree’ includes strongly and somewhat disagree.
‡
n 817 for all variables except Ethnicity (n 794) due to missing responses.