Salt Intake in Malaysia: A Population-Based Study of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Among Adults.
Excessive salt consumption has remained a critical public health issue in Malaysia where the average daily consumption has far exceeded the recommended limit by the World Health Organization (WHO). Driven by the cultural dietary patterns and limited public knowledge, it poses a significant challenge...
| Publicado en: | Inquiry (00469580) Vol. 62; pp. 1 - 11 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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Sage Publications Inc.
10/7/2025
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=189628006&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 189628006 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00469580 INQ jtl: Inquiry (00469580) issn: 00469580 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: 10/7/2025 vid: 62 pid: 344 pub: Sage Publications Inc. artinfo: ui: 189628006 10.1177/00469580251375866 ppf: 1 ppct: 10 formats: tig: atl: Salt Intake in Malaysia: A Population-Based Study of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Among Adults. aug: au: Perialathan, Komathi Azamuddin, Ain Aqiela Yong, Teresa Sui Mien Krishnan, Manimaran Ahmad, Masitah Johari, Mohammad Zabri Mohamad, Hamdan Bin affil: Ministry of Health Malaysia, Setia Alam, Selangor, Malaysia Ministry of Health Malaysia, Putrajaya, Malaysia su: Health literacy Cross-sectional method Dietary patterns Health attitudes Research funding Statistical sampling Culture Logistic regression analysis Descriptive statistics Dietary sodium Health behavior Data analysis software Food portions Patients' attitudes Malaysia sug: subj: Malaysia Health literacy Cross-sectional method Dietary patterns Health attitudes Research funding Statistical sampling Culture Logistic regression analysis Descriptive statistics Dietary sodium Health behavior Data analysis software Food portions Patients' attitudes keyword: attitude belief dietary salt knowledge practice sodium ab: Excessive salt consumption has remained a critical public health issue in Malaysia where the average daily consumption has far exceeded the recommended limit by the World Health Organization (WHO). Driven by the cultural dietary patterns and limited public knowledge, it poses a significant challenge to attitudes, beliefs, and self-reported salt intake practices among Malaysian adults. This nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted from August to November 2023 using a multistage random sampling method.The study employed the validated MySalt Literacy instrument, designed to suit Malaysia's multicultural context and comprising domains on knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, practices, and salt intake among adults aged 18 years and older. A total of 4400 respondents participated in the study, with the majority being female (64.7%) and the remainder male (35.3%). Most respondents had attained tertiary education (54.2%) and resided in rural or semi-rural areas (55.7%). The study findings revealed only 30.9% of respondents correctly identified the recommended daily limit for salt intake, and 65.7% were unaware of the relationship between salt and sodium. In terms of behavioural practices, only 15.6% respondents reported actively limiting their daily salt intake, while merely 13.9% consistently paid attention to labels indicating "no salt added," "low," or "reduced sodium" when purchasing food. Further analysis indicated a significant correlation between attitudes, beliefs, and label-reading practices with salt intake behaviour. This study reveals that Malaysian adults are generally aware of the health risks due to excessive salt intake and express positive attitudes towards salt reduction, however significant knowledge gaps and cultural barriers impedes the progress. Thus, efforts to reduce salt intake must go beyond raising awareness by addressing cultural beliefs, taste preferences and behavioural habits. Effective interventions should incorporate culturally tailored strategies and relatable messages that consider taste preferences and behavioural norms. A coordinated, multi sectoral approach involving health promotion, nutrition education (including labelreading skills), and food policy reforms such as front of pack labelling and mandatory reformulation is essential for sustainable, population wide salt reduction. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y dt: @attributes: year: 2025 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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