Table 3.
The awareness, understanding, and use of sodium labels among participants (%): univariate analysis
| Factors | N | Awareness a | Understanding b | Use c |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 688 | 19.5 | 52.3 | 12.6 |
| Sex | ||||
| Male | 215 | 15.8 | 47.9 | 8.4* |
| Female | 473 | 21.1 | 54.3 | 14.6 |
| Age | ||||
| 18–25 | 117 | 33.3** | 42.7 | 9.4 |
| 26–35 | 228 | 22.8 | 54.4 | 12.7 |
| 36–45 | 116 | 20.7 | 55.2 | 14.7 |
| 46–59 | 149 | 7.4 | 55.7 | 13.4 |
| ≥ 60 | 78 | 10.3 | 50.0 | 12.8 |
| Source of participants | ||||
| Community | 380 | 21.3 | 56.8** | 16.8** |
| Supermarket | 308 | 17.2 | 46.8 | 7.5 |
| Educational level | ||||
| Junior high school or below | 128 | 5.5** | 35.2** | 6.3* |
| High or technical school | 177 | 12.4 | 39.0 | 11.9 |
| Junior college | 112 | 20.5 | 59.8 | 20.5 |
| Undergraduate | 205 | 27.8 | 63.9 | 13.2 |
| Graduate or above | 66 | 37.9 | 72.7 | 12.1 |
| Household monthly income per capita | ||||
| ≤ 5000 | 411 | 13.6** | 47.0** | 9.2* |
| 5001–10,000 | 181 | 28.2 | 62.4 | 17.7 |
| 10,001–20,000 | 73 | 26.0 | 54.8 | 16.4 |
| ≥ 20,0001 | 23 | 34.8 | 60.9 | 21.7 |
| BMI | ||||
| < 24 | 441 | 21.3 | 53.1 | 10.4 |
| 24–27 | 194 | 15.5 | 51.0 | 17.0 |
| ≥ 28 | 53 | 18.9 | 50.9 | 15.1 |
| Hypertension | ||||
| Yes | 355 | 21.1 | 56.1* | 14.1 |
| No | 333 | 17.7 | 48.3 | 11.1 |
| Cardiovascular Disease | ||||
| Yes | 281 | 26.7** | 59.1** | 16.0* |
| No | 407 | 14.5 | 47.7 | 10.3 |
| Chronic Kidney Disease | ||||
| Yes | 85 | 29.4* | 63.5* | 18.8 |
| No | 603 | 18.1 | 50.7 | 11.8 |
| Awareness of recommended daily salt intake | ||||
| Yes | 477 | 21.2 | 59.7** | 14.3 |
| No | 211 | 15.6 | 35.5 | 9.0 |
| Score of attitude towards salt intake d | ||||
| Higher | 304 | 22.7 | 57.9** | 20.7** |
| Lower | 384 | 16.9 | 47.9 | 6.3 |
| Salt reduction behavior e | ||||
| Yes | 467 | 19.7 | 58.0** | 15.4** |
| No | 221 | 19.0 | 40.3 | 6.8 |
a Proportion of participants aware of sodium label on nutrition information panel
b Proportion of participants who understood the relationship between sodium and salt
c Proportion of participants who read or checked the sodium label most of time while shopping
d The score of participants towards salt intake. “Higher” score was defined as above the average, and “Lower” score was defined as below the average
e The behavior of usually controlling the salt intake in daily life
* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01, the chi-squared test was used to compare the differences among subgroups