Table 3.
Knowledge and attitudes related to dietary salt by demographic characteristics (n = 2398)a, b
| Knowledge related questions | Sex (n = 2398) | Age group (years) (n = 2398) | SES (n = 2377) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | Female | P-value | 18–24 | 25–34 | 35–44 | 45–54 | 55–65 | P-value | Low | Mid | High | P-value | |
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | ||||
| On Australian food products information about the amount of sodium within a food product is displayed on the food label. What is the relationship between salt and sodium? | |||||||||||||
| Correct answer - Salt contains sodium | 35.7 | 30.3 | 0.006 | 44.2 | 34.6 | 29.8 | 29.8 | 31.1 | <0.001 | 24.2 | 29.8 | 40.4 | <0.001 |
| Incorrect answer | 64.3 | 69.7 | 55.8 | 65.4 | 70.2 | 70.2 | 68.9 | 75.8 | 70.2 | 59.6 | |||
| In general, how much salt do you think Australians eat? | |||||||||||||
| Correct answer - Far too much or Too much | 79.3 | 87.3 | <0.001 | 81.3 | 79.5 | 82.7 | 86.2 | 87.7 | 0.002 | 84.0 | 84.0 | 84.4 | 0.965 |
| Incorrect answer | 20.7 | 12.7 | 18.7 | 20.5 | 17.3 | 13.8 | 12.3 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 15.6 | |||
| Which of the following do you think is the main source of salt in the Australian diet? | |||||||||||||
| Correct answer - Salt from processed foods such as breads, sausages and cheese | 67.3 | 82.5 | <0.001 | 73.3 | 69.1 | 70.0 | 78.6 | 85.7 | <0.001 | 72.7 | 76.7 | 78.3 | 0.027 |
| Incorrect answer | 32.7 | 17.5 | 26.7 | 30.9 | 30.0 | 21.4 | 14.3 | 27.3 | 23.3 | 21.7 | |||
| Health professionals recommend that we should eat no more than a certain amount of salt each day. How much salt do you think this is? | |||||||||||||
| Correct answer - 5 g (about 1 teaspoon) | 25.5 | 29.1 | 0.054 | 33.9 | 29.7 | 28.5 | 24.7 | 24.6 | 0.025 | 25.2 | 27.3 | 29.6 | 0.134 |
| Incorrect answer | 74.5 | 70.9 | 66.1 | 70.3 | 71.5 | 75.3 | 75.4 | 74.8 | 72.7 | 70.4 | |||
| Do you think that eating too much salt could damage your health? | |||||||||||||
| Correct answer - Yes | 86.4 | 93.2 | <0.001 | 91.2 | 89.3 | 87.9 | 90.3 | 92.8 | 0.074 | 88.1 | 91.4 | 91.6 | 0.039 |
| Incorrect answer | 13.6 | 6.8 | 8.8 | 10.7 | 12.1 | 9.7 | 7.2 | 11.9 | 8.6 | 8.4 | |||
| Which, if any, of the following conditions do you think is linked to eating too much salt? | |||||||||||||
| High blood pressure | |||||||||||||
| Correct answer - Yes | 80.5 | 84.5 | 0.011 | 78.5 | 77.3 | 81.6 | 84.4 | 88.7 | <0.001 | 79.9 | 81.0 | 86.7 | <0.001 |
| Incorrect answer | 19.5 | 15.5 | 21.5 | 22.7 | 18.4 | 15.6 | 11.3 | 20.1 | 19.0 | 13.3 | |||
| Kidney disease | |||||||||||||
| Correct answer - Yes | 55.7 | 67.1 | <0.001 | 59.8 | 59.2 | 62.6 | 60.7 | 66.5 | 0.099 | 53.2 | 61.8 | 68.8 | <0.001 |
| Incorrect answer | 44.3 | 32.9 | 40.2 | 40.8 | 37.4 | 39.3 | 33.5 | 46.8 | 38.2 | 31.2 | |||
| Heart disease/heart attack | |||||||||||||
| Correct answer - Yes | 70.8 | 81.4 | <0.001 | 72.1 | 71.9 | 74.2 | 80.4 | 82.2 | <0.001 | 77.1 | 76.4 | 77.4 | 0.901 |
| Incorrect answer | 29.2 | 18.6 | 27.9 | 28.1 | 25.8 | 19.7 | 17.9 | 22.9 | 23.6 | 22.6 | |||
| Stroke | |||||||||||||
| Correct answer - Yes | 60.1 | 69.0 | <0.001 | 58.2 | 58.0 | 62.6 | 66.3 | 75.4 | <0.001 | 62.5 | 65.3 | 67.3 | 0.115 |
| Incorrect answer | 39.9 | 31.0 | 41.8 | 42.0 | 37.4 | 33.7 | 24.6 | 37.5 | 34.7 | 32.7 | |||
| Stomach cancer | |||||||||||||
| Correct answer - Yes | 28.8 | 28.8 | 0.998 | 29.9 | 34.4 | 29.6 | 27.0 | 24.2 | 0.005 | 26.4 | 29.3 | 30.0 | 0.254 |
| Incorrect answer | 71.2 | 71.1 | 70.1 | 65.6 | 70.4 | 73.0 | 75.8 | 73.6 | 70.7 | 70.0 | |||
| Attitude question | |||||||||||||
| How do you think your daily salt intake compares to the amount of salt recommended by health professionals? | |||||||||||||
| I eat less salt than recommended | 16.9 | 19.9 | 0.135 | 13.2 | 16.2 | 15.4 | 20.4 | 24.2 | <0.001 | 19.9 | 19.1 | 17.5 | <0.001 |
| I eat about the right amount of salt | 36.6 | 37.3 | 31.9 | 35.7 | 36.8 | 34.8 | 42.3 | 31.4 | 40.2 | 39.3 | |||
| I eat more salt than recommended | 28.8 | 27.7 | 41.0 | 32.4 | 29.0 | 27.1 | 19.4 | 27.7 | 25.0 | 30.8 | |||
| I don’t know | 17.7 | 15.1 | 13.9 | 15.7 | 18.8 | 17.7 | 14.1 | 21.0 | 15.7 | 12.4 | |||
aCorrect responses for knowledge questions are shown in italics. ‘Don’t know’ responses were coded as incorrect
bAssociation between categorical variables assessed by Chi-square test. Significant findings (i.e. P < 0.05) are shown in bold