Knowledge, Practices and Perceptions Related to Salt Use among 18-70 Year Old Adults in Gampaha District of Sri Lanka

Background: The World Health Organization has called upon all countries to reduce average population salt intake to <5 g/ day. In Sri Lanka, average adult salt consumption is around 13g /day, which is far above the WHO recommended value. Objective: To describe the knowledge and practices related to food salt use, among 18-70 year old adults in Gampaha district of Sri Lanka. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in Gampaha district, Western province, Sri Lanka. Data were collected using a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethical Review Committee of Faculty of Medicine Ragama. Results: The mean age of the study population is 44.3 years and male to female ratio is almost one. A majority (91.9%) of the study participants identified high salt consumption leads to adverse health effects. Only 22 % were able to identify the recommended maximum daily salt requirement. Many (78.4%) respondents expressed cutting down on salt as an important health priority for them. Just over half of the (50.4%) participants were carrying out some measures to reduce salt consumption. However, a large proportion (88.2%) were of the opinion that they were using the correct amount of salt. Conclusions: The level of knowledge about the maximum daily recommended amount of salt among the adult population is poor in Sri Lanka. Most participants were willing to cut down on salt provided they are enlightened with correct health messages.