Knowledge, attitude and practice of Mongolians on salt intake by geographical location and Its challenges / Монголын Анагаах Ухаан

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION:The Government of Mongolia pays significant attention to reduce noncommunicable diseases and theirrisk factors. WHO Global strategy to reduce salt intake recommended to Member States to assessknowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of the population on salt intake.GOAL:To determine KAP on salt intake was explored in relation to geographical location and its challenges.MATERIALS AND METHODS:This is a cross-sectional study that included 1,040 people with age range 25 - 64 years. The participantswere randomly selected from the four economic regions - western, khangai, central and eastern regions,and Ulaanbaatar city of Mongolia. The ethical aspect of the study was reviewed and approved at ameeting of the Ethics Review Committee in the medical sector at the Ministry of health, Mongolia onJuly 8, 2012 by Resolution number 14.RESULTS:The population with no knowledge of high salt content foods was 23.5% in the western region, 18.9%was in the khangai region, 16.2% was in the central region, 22.0% was in the eastern region, and15.0% was in Ulaanbaatar (ð<0.000). The participants that think a high salt diet and foods do not causehealth problems were higher in the western region 15.8%, and participants who do not know whether itcauses health problems were higher in the eastern region 11.2% compared to other regions (p<0.001).The study population from the central region and males from eastern region did not aware the negativeconsequences of salty meal/foods towards developing stomach cancer (p<0.001).Percentage of population who drink salty tea was 84.4% in the western region, 90.7% were in thekhangai region, 23.4% were in the central region, and 11.0% were in the eastern region, and 44.8%were in Ulaanbaatar (p<0.000).CONCLUSION:Salt reduction intervention especially interventions on changing attitude should be conducted aftertaking account the specific differences of the local areas.