Assessing of Sodium and potassium intake in sample of school aged children from Morocco

Full text: Introduction : The World Health Organization (WHO) 2013 recommendations outline the importance of prioritizing sodium intake reduction as a means to reduce blood pressure and decrease the risk of cardiovascular diseases, and strokes in adults. The WHO strongly recommends the consumption of less than 2g of sodium/day in adults and children. Moreover, 33% of Moroccans suffer from hypertension, 29% have high cholesterol levels and 13% are obese. However, there is little existing data on salt intake of the Moroccan population and available measurement indicators remain limited. The present study was planned to assess the status of sodium and potassium in a sample of school-children aged 6 and 18 years. Methods: The sample for this transversal study includes 131 children recruited from the region of Rabat-Kénitra. There are two main components to the study: a questionnaire concerning anthropometric measures, morbidity, socioeconomic factors, and evaluation of sodium and potassium intake through analysis of 24 hour urinary excretion, using ICP-mass spectrometry. Creatinine was measured to validate urinary completeness. Results: The mean of sodium and potassium were respectively 2235.3±823.2mg/day (equivalent 5667.9±2077.7mg/day of salt) and 1431±636.5mg/day. 46.7% of children consume over the UL of salt (5g/day) and 75% consume under recommended level for potassium. Conclusion: The sodium excretion show higher consumption of sodium than recommended intake. And consumption of potassium is very low. Thus, there's need to set up a national strategy to reduce salt intake and therefore limit associated NCDs, and set nutritional strategy to encourage potassium intake. (author)