Relationship of sodium consumption with obesity in Korean adults based on Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2010~2014 / 한국영양학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Excess sodium intake may contribute to the etiology of hypertension and cardiovascular disease risk. World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a daily sodium intake of less than 2 g. The aim of this study was to estimate the association of sodium intake with obesity in Korean adults. METHODS: This study used Dietary intake and Health data on 22,321 subjects aged 30 years and over from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2010~2014. Information on dietary intake was obtained by the one day 24-hour recall method in KNHANES, and sodium intake was classified into five groups (< 2,000 mg, 2,000~4,000 mg, 4,000~6,000 mg, 6,000~8,000 mg, ≥ 8,000 mg). Obesity was defined as having a body mass index (BMI) higher than 25 kg/m². Intake of sodium and obesity status were analyzed by logistic regression with SPSS Statistics 23. RESULTS: Men tended to have a higher sodium intake than women (p < 0.001). After adjusting for age, sex, year, daily energy intake, education level, smoking status, drinking status, physical activity, and chronic diseases and comparing the highest sodium intake group (≥ 8,000 mg) with the lowest intake group (< 2,000 mg), the OR of obesity was 1.351 (95% CI: 1.032~1.767) in men. The OR of obesity in the sodium intake group (4,000~6,000 mg) was 1.232 (95% CI: 1.063~1.427) in women. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest an independent relationship between sodium intake and as increased risk of obesity in Korean adults, implying the necessity for future research on low-sodium diet intervention in relation to obesity.