The salt intake situation among Chinese adults from 2010 to 2012

Objective To analyze the average intake of salt among age-standardized Chinese adults from 2010 to 2012. Methods Datas were collected from the Chinese Nutrition and Health Surveillance from 2010 to 2012. The sample was selected through the method of probability proportion to size (PPS). The subjects were 64 038 adults aged 18 and above. The information of oil, salt and other condiments intake for household was from the 3 d food weighed record. The average of salt intake for individuals was calculated based on the energy percentage in one family. Age and gender standardized results were calculated by incorporating a complex sample weighting using the population data from the National Bureau of Statistics in 2009. The average salt intake was reported after weight adjustment for complex sampling. Results The mean intake of salt was (10.4±0.2)g/d and it was higher in men ((11.1±0.3)g/d) than that in women ((9.6±0.2)g/d). It was higher for salt intake in the age group of 40-49 ((10.8± 0.4)g/d), 50-59 ((11.0±0.3)g/d) and 60-69 ((10.5±0.2)g/d) than 18-29((10.3±0.3)g/d),30-39((10.0± 0.2)g/d) and ≥70((9.0±0.2)g/d).The adults in rural had a higher salt intake ((10.8±0.3)g/d) than that in urban areas ((10.0±0.3)g/d). The average salt intake increased gradually in big city ((8.9±0.3)g/d), medium/small city ((10.2±0.4)g/d), general rural ((10.6±0.3)g/d) and poor rural areas ((11.3±0.6)g/d). Conclusion The mean salt intake among Chinese adults was still in a relatively high level. Measure need to be taken to reduce the salt intake among Chinese adults. Key words: Sodium chloride, dietary; Adult; China; Cross-sectional studies