Health Promotion Activities to Reduce Sodium Intake Should Target Younger People – Research
By: , February 26, 2025
Photo: Rudranath Fraser
Winner of the Award for the Most Impactful Presentation at the National Health Research Conference 2024, Professor Trevor Ferguson (right), addresses a JIS Think Tank on research findings from the Jamaica Salt Study, on February 25. Also participating in the Think Tank are (from left) winner of the Best Poster, Dr. Joanne Smith-Burke and winner of the Best Student Poster, Tracia-Gay Kennedy .The Full Story
Health promotion activities to reduce sodium intake should target younger people and individuals with higher education.
This is one of the recommendations from research conducted to estimate the frequency of consumption of high salt foods (HSF) among Jamaican adults and evaluate associations between sociodemographic and health factors.
Another finding of the study was that the percentage of persons with high sodium was 68 per cent, which means that approximately two-thirds of the Jamaican population have high sodium consumption.
Speaking at a JIS Think Tank on February 25, Professor of Epidemiology and Internal Medicine at the Caribbean Institute for Health Research (CAIHR) at the University of the West Indies, Professor Trevor Ferguson, explained that the cross-sectional study, titled the Jamaica Salt Consumption Study, was conducted among a nationally representative sample of persons who were 18 years or older from 60 enumeration districts across the island between 2022 and 2023.
“Sixty-item food-frequency questionnaires were administered collecting data on persons’ health status as well as on knowledge, practice and attitudes regarding salt consumption. Measurements such as weight and height were taken as well as a urine sample that was used to estimate the level of sodium consumption,” he said.
Professor Ferguson who was the Lead Researcher on the Salt Consumption Study pointed out that data was used from 448 persons, which included 171 men and 277 women with a mean age of 45 years.
The Lead Researcher noted that the Research findings from the updated estimates from the Salt Consumption Study were presented at the 2024 National Health Research Conference and won the award for the Most Impactful Presentation.
Professor Ferguson explained that he leads a team of researchers at CAIHR, which conducts research in cardiovascular diseases and estimating the burden of diseases that provide information for policy and planning for the Ministry of Health and Wellness, “as well as help us to understand the underlying causes of these conditions and identify the potential interventions to improve the outcomes for persons with the disease”.